{"id":1083,"date":"2014-04-24T11:14:15","date_gmt":"2014-04-24T15:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=1083"},"modified":"2014-04-24T11:15:25","modified_gmt":"2014-04-24T15:15:25","slug":"shakespeare-unfurls-flags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/shakespeare-unfurls-flags\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakespeare unfurls flags"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Shakespeare\"<\/a>
Shakespeare<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This year marks the 450<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> birthday of William Shakespeare. No one is sure in what month and on what date he was born, but tradition has placed it in late April because he was baptized on April 26, 1564. He spent his life writing, and his writing often turned to flags.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take this passage from \u201cKing Edward III,\u201d when a sailor declaims: \u201c<\/span>Near to the coast I have descried, my lord,\u2026the proud armada of King Edward\u2019s ships,\u2026which, at the first far off when I did ken,\u2026their glorious bright aspect, their streaming ensigns wrought of coloured silk, like to a meadow full of sundry flowers\u2026.And on the top gallant of the admiral\u2026the arms of England and of France unite.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A flag flies above the Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare’s plays were enacted.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In that speech, the mariner uses two synonyms for flags: ensign and gallant. The latter refers to a flag flown on the stern of a ship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iago, the villain in \u201cOthello,\u201d deploys \u201cflag\u201d metaphorically when he speaks of his need to pretend to be something he is not. Says Iago: \u201cThough I do hate him as I do hell pains, yet for necessity of present life I must show out a flag and sign of love, which is indeed but sign.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, he was, as the expression goes — most often in reference to pirates — \u201cflying under a false flag.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A scene from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ from a 1780s’ book<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Romeo, in \u201cRomeo and Juliet,\u201d uses both \u201censign\u201d and \u201cflag\u201d in the soliloquy he delivers upon finding out that his beloved is dead. Addressing Juliet, he says she looks as if she were still alive and blushing with life: \u201cDeath, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath had no power yet upon thy beauty. Thou art not conquered. Beauty\u2019s ensign yet is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, and death\u2019s pale flag is not advanced there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps Shakespeare\u2019s favorite synonym for flag was \u201ccolours,\u201d which he used dozens of times, often in his history plays. That\u2019s to be expected since he was writing about kings and other royalty who used flags to identify themselves and signal their armies.<\/span><\/p>\n

An example occurs in \u201cHenry VI, Part 3,\u201d when a character shouts, \u201cSound trumpets! Let our bloody colours wave! And either victory, or else a grave.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Whatever variations he used, Shakespeare was obviously a flag-fanatic, although that\u2019s a phrase he never employed.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Next week: More about Shakespeare\u2019s theater and its flags.)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year marks the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare. No one is sure in what month and on what date he was born, but tradition has placed it in late April because he was baptized on April 26, 1564. He spent his life writing, and his writing often turned to flags. Take this passage from… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[190,189,3,188],"class_list":["post-1083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-colours","tag-ensign","tag-history","tag-shakespeare"],"yoast_head":"\nShakespeare unfurls flags - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/shakespeare-unfurls-flags\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shakespeare unfurls flags - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This year marks the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare. 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