green flag

Noun

green flag (plural green flags)

1. (literally) A flag that is green, used in motor racing to indicate the beginning or resumption of a race.
   • As we stood waiting for the departure time with the setting sun twinkling on the great brass dome of our 2-4-0, the sound of church bells was the only one apart from the measured tread of the guard slowly pacing towards his van, and, standing at an open window, I more than once heard the fireman's...1955 January, R. S. McNaught, “From the Severn to the Mersey by Great Western”, in Railway Magazine, page 19
   • The Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul is a homely looking place, much smaller than it seems, nestled into a quiet suburban street, and painted pastel yellow. Were it not for a giant steel door and a green flag flying on the roof – both sporting two large swords – it could easily be an Ottoman-era...2018 October 21, Martin Chulov, “Jamal Khashoggi: murder in the consulate”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 May...
2. (figuratively, informal) A sign or cue that signals a positive trait about someone or something.
   • When your partner is going through a tough time — whether on their own or with you involved — how do they manage those emotions? Do they bottle them up and repress their feelings, do they express them, or do they take them out on others? As [Dr. Marissa] Tunis explains, it's a major green flag if...2021 December 29, Lexi Inks, “15 Early Signs Your Relationship Has Long-Term Potential”, in Bustle, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2023
   • Dating someone a few years later, she was initially thrilled to see Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own on a man’s bookshelf alongside a host of books by women – a green flag, she thought, proof of feminist sensibilities. “And then he just turned out to be terrible, too.”2026 February 13, Emma Loffhagen, “‘His favourite book was by Jordan Peterson, which was a massive ick’: how books perform on dating apps”, in The Guardian, →ISSN