Etymograph

English

flag

Flag comes from Middle English flag.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flag1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1851flag1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English flag
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor: “[…] the orator pulled out a tremendous black doll,…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flagWiktionary, English flag
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1851flagWiktionary, English flag. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor: “[…] the orator pulled out a tremendous black doll,…”

The story

Perhaps from or related to early Middle English flage (name for a baby's garment) and Old English flagg, flacg (‘cataplasm, poultice, plaster’). Germanic cognates include Saterland Frisian Flaage (‘flag’), West Frisian flagge (‘flag’), Dutch vlag (‘flag’), German Flagge (‘flag’), Swedish flagga (‘flag’), Danish flag (‘flag, ship's flag’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Middle English flag

Another origin of flag

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flackenuncertain
  2. English1500–presentflack‘to hang loose’uncertain
  3. Englishtodayflag

Another origin of flag

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flagge
  2. Englishtodayflag

From Middle English flagge, of uncertain origin, perhaps from North Germanic; compare Danish flæg (‘yellow iris’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Another origin of flag

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500flag
  2. Englishtodayflag

From Middle English flag, flagge, probably of Scandinavian/North Germanic origin; compare Icelandic flag.

Today it means

noun A piece of cloth, often decorated with an emblem, used as a visual signal or symbol.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “flag”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English flag / flag

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