A national standard on which are certain emblems; an ensign; a banner. It is carried by soldiers, ships, etc., and commonly displayed at forts and many other suitable places. Flag;, duty of the. This was an ancient ceremony in acknowledgment of British sovereignty over the British seas, by which a foreign vessel struck her flag and lowered her top-sail on meeting the British flag. Flag of the United States. By the act entitled “An act to establish the flag of the United States.” (Rev. St. ?{ 1791, 1792 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 1225],) it is provided “that, from and after the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be twenty stars, white in a blue field; that, on the admission of every new state into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission.”Law of the flag. See LAW.