The Red Flag

"The Red Flag" is a song associated with left-wing politics, in particular with socialism. It is the semi-official anthem of the British Labour Party, and the official anthem of the Northern Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party and Irish Labour Party. The song is traditionally sung at the close of each party's national conference.

History

Irishman Jim Connell wrote the song's lyrics in 1889 in Nicholas Donovan's house. There are six stanzas, each followed by the chorus. It is normally sung to the tune of "Lauriger Horatius", better known as the German carol "O Tannenbaum" ("O Christmas Tree"), though Connell had wanted it sung to the tune of a pro-Jacobite Robert Burns anthem, "The White Cockade". The lyrics of the first verse and the chorus, which are the most well-known parts of the song, are as follows:

"The Red Flag" resonated with the early radical workers’ movement in the United States, and it appeared as the first song in the first edition of the Little Red Songbook of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1909. Only five of the six stanzas were printed, omitting the fourth stanza that begins, "It well recalls the triumphs past."

Red flag

Red flag may refer to:

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Red flag (politics)

In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, Communism, and left-wing politics; it has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution (1789–99). Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its use by the Paris Commune of 1871. The flags of several communist states, including China, Vietnam and the Soviet Union, are explicitly based on the original red flag. The red flag is also used as a symbol by some democratic socialists and social democrats, for example the Avami National Party of Pakistan, French Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party of Germany. The Labour Party in Britain used it until the late 1980s. It was the inspiration for the socialist anthem, The Red Flag.

History

In the Middle Ages, ships in combat flew a long red streamer, called the Baucans, to signify a fight to the death. In one petition, a group of English sailors asserted that the Crown had no right to a share of the prize money earned from a Norman ship captured in 1293 because it had raised the Baucans. (Raising this streamer may have been a relatively novel practice at this time, since the writers feel the need to explain it.) By the 17th century, the Baucans had evolved into a red flag, or "flag of defiance." It was raised in cities and castles under siege to indicate that they would not surrender. "The red flag is a signal of defiance and battle," according to Chambers Cyclopedia (1727–41).

Red flag (idiom)

The term red flag could mean either a literal flag used for signaling or, as a metaphor, a sign of some particular problem requiring attention.

The earliest citation for "red flag" in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1602 and shows that at that time the flag was used by military forces to indicate that they were preparing for battle.

The earliest citation of "red flag" in the sense of a warning is dated 1777 and refers to a flag warning of flood.

The term and the expression "to raise the red flag" come from various usages of real flags throughout history. The semaphore red flag (or red light) on railways means an immediate stop, while a red flag is frequently flown by armed forces to warn the public of live fire exercises in progress, and is sometimes flown by ships carrying munitions (in this context it is actually the flag for the letter B in the International maritime signal flag alphabet, a red swallow-tailed flag). In many countries a red flag is flown to signify that an outdoor shooting range is in use. The United States Air Force refers to its largest annual exercise as red flag operation. Red flags are used for various signals in team sailing races (see Racing Rules of Sailing). A red flag warning is a signal of high wildfire danger and a red flag on the beach warns of dangerous water conditions (double red flags indicate beach closure). Red flags of various designs indicate dangerous wind and wave conditions for mariners. In auto racing, a red flag indicates a stop to the race due to dangerous conditions.

The Red

"The Red" is the breakthrough single from the band Chevelle. It is the fifth track and lead single from their major label debut, Wonder What's Next, released in 2002. Former Major League Baseball player Geoff Blum used "The Red" as his intro song when he came up to bat.

The song is about dealing with frustration and anger. Its music video depicts an anger management seminar where vocalist Pete Loeffler ascends a podium and sings the verse lyrics. The video then breaks to Chevelle performing the heavy chorus under red lighting. The agitated seminar participants, which include band members Sam and Joe, begin tossing folding chairs. By the end of the song, it is revealed that the fight happened to be just a dream.

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The Red (disambiguation)

"The Red" is the breakthrough single from the Chicago-based hard rock band Chevelle. The Red may also refer to:

See also