Warning Flags for disease

[Kenneth]

I was doing a little flag research and I was curious. Were yellow flags used as a warning for quarantine or sickness in the GAoP?

[Tartan Jack]

Later, they used yellow flags for quarantine, but I THINK that came just AFTER the GAoP.

[BriarRose Kildare]

According to one of my books, "Virsuses, Plagues & History", by Michael B. A. Oldstone, the yellow flag began being used by the following reasons:

" As trade by ocean-going vessels continued, yellow fever struck Brazil in 1686, Marinique in 1690, Cadiz, Spain, in 1730, and later Marseilles, France, and the port of Swansea (1878) in Wales. Knowing that victims of yellow fever must be isolated from other patients and the general population, the staff of Greenwich Hospital of England dressed the segregated patients in jackets with yellow patches to forwarn others about the contagion. They were nicknamed "Yellow Jackets," and a yellow-colored flag that flew over the quarantined area was referred to as the "Yellow Jack."

I hope this helped you some. I will look thru some more of my books that I have concernng flags, quaratines etc.

Diseases of history are one of my main interests and specialities.

[Coastie04]

Not sure about back then, but now the India flag (yellow with a black ball in the center) is a signal for quarantine.

Coastie

[BriarRose Kildare]

Aye, you are correct in the yellow flag with a black ball in the center.

The quote I wrote concerning the yellow flag was directly from the book. I am trying to do more research on the matter. I am both very interested and curious. Hopefully I will be able to find more information.

[Kenneth]

There isn't much written about the matter....hmmm. Not a lot written about the "Yellow Jack".

[BriarRose Kildare]

Mmmm, I have several..well more that several books on diseases thru out history. However, my specialty is the bubonic plague. I am hoping to dig out my books and go thru them to see what I might find. It may take me a few days though. Alot of information to wade through.

[BriarRose Kildare]

Okay, I have been doing some research concerning the use of flags for quaratines. I found an interesting website that some of you may find helpful. For the most part the yellow flag was used and it is dated back to the 14th century when the great plague hit Europe. And at times a yellow cross, patch or jacket was used as well. However, for the most part a yellow flag has been used although there have been some instances that a white or black flag was used. In some cases a red light was used as a signal during the night and a yellow flag was used during the day. I hope the following link helps:

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/xf~q.html

I will continue to do some more research on the subject.

An interesting side note concernng the red light. The red light was often used in brothels to hide the effects of disease, especially syphilis on the women who were working there.. Henceforth, today it is still referred to the Red Light District.

[Tartan Jack]

Looking at THAT site, it seems that a yellow flag HAD been used previously (in the later middle ages) for Q. It was reinstituted by 1800.

It cites a white flag both for Q. and to signify the cleaning of a port (in Hawaii) in 1710.

So, I would not feel safe saying a yellow flag meant Q in the GAoP.

Also, a yellow flag with the coiled snake was proposed by Gadsden of South Carolina as the ensign of the US Navy commander in 1776 (or so). IF yellow had the Q association among sailors, I would be surprised at such a proposal. That flag WAS adopted popularly and used HEAVILY by the patriot troops and militia, becoming the de facto state flag of South Carolina for a while.

(NOT proof, just interesting in light of the discussion)

Also, Foxe has stated that contemporary sources cite yellow as a very/the most common color for pirate flags during the GAoP, but a color that fell out of favor soon afterwards (when black became the virtual standard). (Search for info on flags for info on yellow pirate flags).

[Coastie04]

Parallel to this topic: Hurricane Flags are making a comeback. This is more current events, but seemed to fit here.

Hurricane Flags.

You haven't seen them for almost two decades -- except perhaps in nautical-themed bars or fluttering outside shutter businesses -- and they're not a sight you're keen to see anyway.

But hurricane flags are making a comeback, through renewed government use and an increase in sales on the private market.

The boxy red flags with the black square will once again fly from South Florida Coast Guard stations when a hurricane comes barreling in, a symbol of renewed efforts by the Guard to cast itself as the watchdog for local boaters.

After using them for more than 100 years, the National Weather Service furled the flags in 1989, deferring to more-immediate means to warn of approaching storms such as radio and TV.

"It was recognized that in a day when technology ruled, there are many different ways to get important weather information to mariners," Greg Romano of the National Weather Service said from his Washington, D.C., office.

Colorful and quaint, the flags harken to the 1800s as an offshoot of weather-alert flags for farmers. But they are less than highly efficient when it comes to urgent storm warnings: You have to be within view to receive their message. And these days, you would have to be living in a cave not to know when a hurricane is threatening.

The flags are being distributed to the 20 Coast Guard stations in the 7th District, which includes Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, including six Guard stations from Key West to West Palm Beach, said Petty Officer Dana Warr.

"A lot of our stations are right on major waterways," Warr said. "If you're leaving Port Everglades, you'll see the flag flying at Station Fort Lauderdale."

Other districts along the East Coast will be resurrecting the flags, but it's in South Florida where they may be run up the flagpole most.

Though the flags' effectiveness is limited, the Coast Guard is relying on the maritime tradition to serve as a public-relations tool. "We're re-establishing the program to reaffirm to the community the Coast Guard's role as experts concerning local boating matters," Warr said. "We want to establish ourselves with the boating community in providing information."

Hurricane flags are also enjoying a renaissance at hotels, bars and rental properties -- the primary purchasers of the flags, according to Kerry McCoy with FlagandBanner, a Little Rock, Ark., firm that has been manufacturing and selling flags for more than 30 years.

"In the last few years, the sales have probably gone up 90 percent," she said. "I used to sell three or four a year; now I sell at least 25."

Many of the flags are purchased by small businesses along the Gulf of Mexico, and McCoy attributes the spike to the recent flurry of hurricanes there and in Florida. "Every time you turn around you've got a storm," she said.

The origin of the flags and their design stumps even expert vexillologists, or those who study flags. "Who chose the original ones and why they were chosen, I don't know offhand," said Whitney Smith, founder of the Flag Research Center in Winchester, Mass., and a national flag expert.

"Buried in the National Archives you've probably got a memo outlining the process," said Joseph McMillan, an Alexandria, Va., flag researcher. Weather flags originally were used to warn farmers in the late 19th century, he said. Large flags, some 6 feet by 8 feet, were hung outside post offices to forecast cold spells, rain or wind.

Along the coasts, McMillan said, the military's signal service had stations to observe passing ships. The stations communicated with the ships by signal flag and telegraphed a vessel's progress to ports and shipping firms. McMillan's research led him to a 1883 government booklet outlining the stations' signal codes for storms, including today's storm warning: a square black inset in a square red flag.

In 1898, President McKinley ordered the Weather Bureau, the precursor of the National Weather Service, to establish a hurricane-warning network, which apparently adopted the signal station's hurricane flag.

Its design likely was a matter of selecting highly recognizable shapes and colors. "They're just distinct, clearly visible geometric forms," McMillan said, "probably chosen because these particular designs weren't already part of another signal code at the time."

Coastie