to fly the flag - Glite Dictionary

Examples

People who fly the flag outside their house.

Blog text (20)
And, most importantly, we both fly the flag for the Republic of Manchester.

Control (2007)
Canadians rarely fly the flag at any time.

Blog text (10)
Most cruise ships fly the flag of, say, Panama or Liberia.
During the games, the fans proudly fly the flag to show their support for their country.
Every July 4th, Americans fly the flag to celebrate Independence Day.
To express their solidarity, community members fly the flag of their organization at local events.

Antonyms

to abandon

401 3.8

Stop supporting an idea or plan

to disavow

Formal

33 7.7

To say you are not responsible for or connected to something

How Supportive

to champion

64 4.2

to promote

252 3.5

to fly the flag

1 4.1

to support

∞ 1.0

to acknowledge

72 3.5

Surface Forms

fly the flag infinitive

flying the flag present participle

flies the flag third person singular

flew the flag past

flown the flag past participle

Morphology

fly + the + flag

The sense 'to show support or pride' is directly built from 'fly' (to set a flag aloft) + 'flag' (an emblem), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to displaying a flag and thereby showing allegiance. The slight metaphorical extension from literal display to broader support is a straightforward, common pattern cross-linguistically, making the expression immediately comprehensible at B1.

Etymology

The phrase fly the flag comes from the simple image of putting a flag on a pole and letting it fly in the wind so everyone can see who you support. So, today to fly the flag means 'to show support or pride' for a country, group, or idea.