iddyomatic
'flying colours'
Definition: To accomplish something convincingly
Example: Johnny passed his second driving test with flying colours. His first test had not been promising. There were still seven people in hospital.
Origin:
The phrase ‘with flying colours‘ can be preceded by a number of words; ‘pass‘, ‘come through‘, ‘win‘, etc. All of the combinations mean ‘to succeed‘.
Example: Johnny passed his second driving test with flying colours. His first test had not been promising. There were still seven people in hospital.
Origin:
The phrase ‘with flying colours‘ can be preceded by a number of words; ‘pass‘, ‘come through‘, ‘win‘, etc. All of the combinations mean ‘to succeed‘.
But what are these colours?
They have a naval origin. Ships used flags as a means of communication. Returning to port, victorious naval craft advertised their success with their flags unfurled for all to see. They would be ‘flying their colours‘. In contrast, a defeated ship would come into port with her flags lowered. She would be ‘striking her colours‘.
There are a number of further colour related idioms, all relating to naval flag use:
- ‘Nail your colours to your mast‘ Flags fastened in such a way could not be lowered. It means to take a stand and not surrender.
- ‘Under false colours’ This means to deceive and is thought to relate to pirate ships using flags to trick other craft into coming near.
- ‘Go down with flying colours’ This is the only negative usage of our original idiom, meaning to fight to the end.
