flag of convenience
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of flag of convenience
First recorded in 1955–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Another popular method of deception is to adopt a false flag or flag of convenience.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026
ITF data shows that in 2024, around 90% of the abandoned vessels sailed under a flag of convenience.
From BBC • Aug. 18, 2025
Most athletes who defected competed under a kind of flag of convenience – traveling to the Summer Games from eastern Europe with a plan to head west.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2021
Perversely, a flag of convenience, seen as a way to avoid government regulation, had Shell seeking a government safety net — and a longer, more dangerous, near-shore route.
From New York Times • Dec. 30, 2014
In common with 34 other Transocean oil rigs, Deepwater Horizon was registered under the flag of convenience of the Marshall Islands, a country of barely 65,000 people halfway between Hawaii and Papau New Guinea.
From The Guardian • May 30, 2010
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.