Nailing the colours (also nailing the colours to the mast or nailing the flag) is a practice dating back to the Age of Sail that expresses a defiant refusal to surrender, and willingness to fight to the last man.
The crew of Vengeur du Peuple nailing the colours. This is an element of the later propaganda surrounding the event, and did not happen historically.
During the Age of Sail, ships would legally fight only while flying their national flag. Flying another flag was considered to be a legitimate ruse de guerre only until the beginning of the fight. Striking the colours was a sign of surrender. Indeed, when shot or shrapnel felled a ship's flag (such as by severing the halyard that held it up), her opponent would cease firing and inquire whether she was capitulating.
In contrast, fixing the battle ensign with nails would prevent it from being removed easily, and effectively prevented the surrender. It became an expression of defiance and willingness to force oneself to fight up to the bitter end.
nailing, colours, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Nailing the colours news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message Nailing the colours also nailing the colours to the mast or nailing the flag is a practice dating back to the Age of Sail that expresses a defiant refusal to surrender and willingness to fight to the last man The crew of Vengeur du Peuple nailing the colours This is an element of the later propaganda surrounding the event and did not happen historically During the Age of Sail ships would legally fight only while flying their national flag Flying another flag was considered to be a legitimate ruse de guerre only until the beginning of the fight Striking the colours was a sign of surrender Indeed when shot or shrapnel felled a ship s flag such as by severing the halyard that held it up her opponent would cease firing and inquire whether she was capitulating In contrast fixing the battle ensign with nails would prevent it from being removed easily and effectively prevented the surrender It became an expression of defiance and willingness to force oneself to fight up to the bitter end The practice became a powerful and recurrent propaganda tool during the French Revolutionary Wars It actually happened on the Tonnant at the Battle of the Nile 1 and on the San Juan Nepomuceno at the Battle of Trafalgar It was also wrongly claimed that the Vengeur du Peuple had done so during the Glorious First of June when she had in fact struck In the Royal Navy Jack Crawford became famous for the deed See also editStriking the colours With flying colours Battle of Mobile Bay section Farragut lashed to the rigging References edit Aristide Aubert Dupetit Thouars archivesdefrance culture gouv frExternal links editNail your colours to the mast The Phrase Finder Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nailing the colours amp oldid 1170199952, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
