red flag
noun
the symbol or banner of a left-wing revolutionary party.
red flag
1 Americannoun
-
the symbol or banner of a left-wing revolutionary party.
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a danger signal.
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something that provokes an angry or hostile reaction.
The talk about raising taxes was a red flag to many voters.
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Also called powder flag. Nautical. a red burgee, designating in the International Code of Signals the letter “B,” flown by itself to show that a vessel is carrying, loading, or discharging explosives or highly inflammable material.
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(initial capital letters) a war game the U.S. Air Force holds several times each year at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, to train personnel in air combat.
red-flag
2
American
[red-flag]
/ ˈrɛdˈflæg /
verb (used with object)
red-flagged,
red-flagging
-
to mark or draw attention to for a particular purpose.
The department has red-flagged the most urgent repair work to be done.
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to provoke the attention of; alert; arouse.
The animal's refusal to eat red-flagged the keeper that something was wrong.
adjective
-
of or relating to a red flag.
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intended or serving to emphasize, warn, incite, or provoke.
red flag
1
British
noun
-
a symbol of socialism, communism, or revolution
-
a warning of danger or a signal to stop
Red Flag
2
British
noun
Etymology
Origin of red flag1
First recorded in 1770–80
Origin of red-flag2
First recorded in 1880–85
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.
See Examples For:
Proposition 40’s failure to crack 50% support among voters at this point in the electoral cycle is a potential red flag, said IGS poll director Mark DiCamillo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Even if a man doesn’t have symptoms, just knowing they have low testosterone can be a red flag since it’s associated with higher rates of obesity and other chronic health conditions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
It was a red flag day with triple-digit temperatures and a strong, dry wind blowing from the south.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Roughly a month ago, Stocktwits CEO and co-founder Howard Lindzon raised a red flag on his blog about chip stocks, selling down more than half of his semiconductor-index exposure.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
That really should have been a red flag to anyone who was paying attention.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
A red-flag moment was his and colleagues’ skepticism at the idea of asymptomatic spread.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
“We have a red-flag system here, where if there’s anything that gets really out of whack, they can immediately tag the milk, and it doesn’t go to anything but cheese,” McAfee told me.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
You are in big red-flag territory for this one.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
A red-flag fire danger warning remains in effect for the area until 6 p.m.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2024
She denounced it as a “hodgepodge of plagiarism pulled from here, a bit from there, the whole misinterpreted and sensationalized to give color to the red-flag word SPIES.”
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
In recent years, the Air Force has looked for new ways to use the Reaper in combat, sending it to large-scale combat exercises, including Valiant Shield in the Pacific and Red Flag in Alaska.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
He then got into his Chinese Hongqi, or "Red Flag," limousine and departed the airport into the city, where demonstrations are expected both for and against his visit.
From Reuters ● Nov. 14, 2023
Red Flag Warnings remain in effect for much of LA/Ventura counties through 10 pm Monday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2023
But the routine of singing the party's anthem, the Red Flag, to close their conference continues.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2023
“The Red Flag Club is better,” rejoined another.
From The Crimson Tide A Novel by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
For instance, a corporate group of high-handicap golfers who haven’t played the course before can be red-flagged in advance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
In August, BBC News NI reported that some patients who have been red-flagged for breast cancer assessments are waiting up to 10 weeks to be seen.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
Mercedes duo Kimi Antonelli and George Russell completed the podium in a sprint that was red-flagged after Piastri and Alpine's Franco Colapinto' exited the 100km dash.
From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2025
The National Trust said Portstewart Strand had been red-flagged and advised visitors against going into the water.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2025
“Again I swung my red-flagged brassey in front of the angry creature’s face, and what I had hoped for followed.”
From Mr. Munchausen Being a True Account of Some of the Recent Adventures beyond the Styx of the Late Hieronymus Carl Friedrich, Sometime Baron Munchausen of Bodenwerder by John Kendrick Bangs
“Passing judgments, applying labels, and red-flagging educational materials that might prompt uncomfortable but insightful discussions are activities that do not belong in our public schools.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 10, 2019
From next season players will be tested every day for six minutes before training, with computers immediately red-flagging anyone at risk.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 7, 2013
But we make the caddie do the ordinary work of carrying, and teeing up, and red-flagging also, and he contrives in effect to be in two places at the same time.
From The Happy Golfer Being Some Experiences, Reflections, and a Few Deductions of a Wandering Golfer by Henry Leach
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.
