This is a history of the flags flown at sea by the principal naval powers - Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain and the USA - during the Age of Sail. The subject is one that has been obscured by curious myths and misunderstandings about where, when and why certain flags - like the piratical 'Jolly Roger' - were flown, and this book's narrative aims to unravel these issues. It also tackles such apparently complicated issues as signalling in peace and war. The book also contains a profusion of illustrations, covering the many variants of well-known flags, in both contemporary flag-charts and modern drawings done specially for this work. It therefore provides the degree of detail demanded by modelmakers, artists and historians.