@mr-kaluta said in Flag Meanings?:

It very well be that flags only have a decorative purpose. Since Rare seems to take and make accommodations for people that are color blind. It would be insensitive for them to turn around an implement a communication system that uses color. Just sayin

All of the flags have patterns so they are already OK for color-blindness (aside from black/white which likely isn't an issue).

It very well be that flags only have a decorative purpose. Since Rare seems to take and make accommodations for people that are color blind. It would be insensitive for them to turn around an implement a communication system that uses color. Just sayin

I fly my flags like this...

White: im not in the mood to fight or talk, will run at first sight, will scuttle if engaged
Checkered: I'm friendly, ill chat or help
Black:ill defend myself and fight to the death if necessary.
Blue or yellow: I'm doing missions ill run if I see you
Red: I'm doing missions ill help or fight I don't care if I've got loot
Jolly Roger: I never use this flag but if I did it would mean run away when you see it
Shark hunter: I'm hunting a shark ill help other shark hunters

@blg-strong-dad said in Flag Meanings?:

White flag: This flag was typically raised to show surrender. It was very rare that anyone would fight under the white flag.

Minor correction here, the white flag wasnt used to show surrender, but rather a request to discuss/parlay. Striking/removing your flag/colours was considered a sign of surrender.

There is already a lot of other post about flag, but just in case you didn't find them I will show you here the system I use.
It's clear and simple and said everything that need to be said.

NOTHING : I just spawn OR I'm shoping OR I want to be sneaky
WHITE : I'm peaceful
YELLOW : I'm doing Gold Hoarder voyage
RED : I'm doing Order of Soul voyage
BLUE : I'm doing Merchant Alliance voyage
LEGENDARY : I'm doing Legendary voyage
BLACK : I'm doing Fort
SHARK : I'm doing/helping with Merrick quest OR fishing/hunting shark
CHECHERED : I want friendly interact with other crew (drinking, playing music, chalenging others crew, racing or something else)
JOLLY ROGER : Dont be in my line of sight or you gonna be my next victim !!!

I've been giving this a lot of thought, and figured out a pretty solid theory for how flags should be interpretated.

White Flag: Willing to surrender and disengage

Jolly Roger: Looking to plunder. Likely have nothing to lose and everything to gain

Blue Flag: Friendly players on board. Would rather split the loot, say at a Skull Fort, than risk losing it all

Red Flag: Soaked in the blood of their enemies. These crews are in it to win it, and won't settle for second place

Yellow Flag: Merchant Cheesers. These crews are looking to focus solely on the grind, but will defend their livestock with their own lives

Checkered Flag: Achievement Hunters. Looking to cooperate to get those hard-to-get Achievements. Most likely getting ready to log off so have nothing to lose

Black Flag: Solo Grinder on Gold Hoarders or Order of Souls. Not lookiny to cooperate and will fire warning shots and engage potential threats when possible or run from bigger threats when needed

Shark Hunter Flag: Looking to cooperate to fight the Hungering One. Might also be a ruse, approach with caution and empty handed.

Blackflag/Jolly Roger:
We be pirates, give us yer loot and we may let you go.

Red:
No quarter.
You'll be dead and your ship sunk.

Blue/Yellow:
Merchants/Peaceful, will fire when fired upon, never first though.

White:
We surrender.

Shark:
Down to hunt Megan.

Legend:
I am Legend.

I've encountered the skull n bones and various others and everyone has been pretty rad so far but I'm sure that will end after the Hungering Deep campaign ends in 2 weeks... I'm flying the plain black coz I'm a Goff, no other reason. Haha

@kaydence Personally if I were to give the flags meanings based on what I saw would be this:

Blue: Says Ahoy in Quick Chat... "I'll take what I have and avoid you all together"

Yellow: "I'm a bee, don't swat at me and you wont get stung."

Red: "Your ship would look better flooded with water, and we know how to spend that gold better than you anyways."

White: "We surrender! No threat intended! Did I mention we are French?" (four of the sloops this morning when I went to Sharkbait Cove were flying this flag, all of which were super nice and helpful btw)

Jolly Roger: "Yeah we got treasure go ahead and try to take it"

Shark Hunter: "I spent 4k gold on this flag so I gotta use it now. :/"

Jolly Roger means Come at me Bro

Seriously...
I expected them to give guidelines for the flags so at least most pirate would be on the same page as to how to use them.
Even though they don't change the game mechanics they would at least give everyone a guideline of roleplaying with the flags - instead... Free for all flag use....

@blg-strong-dad said in Flag Meanings?:

@kaydence This was one of the only things I really didn't like. They gave no useful descriptions for people to properly use the flags. If you want to play accurate to history only a few of them really apply:

Jolly roger: This was raised by pirates to signal that it is a pirate ship and if the ship they're approaching surrenders they will not be killed, but they will be robbed. Typically used to steal from merchants.

Red flag: This flag means you'll give no quarter to hostile ships. It doesn't necessarily mean you will be aggressive, but that if you're attacked you WILL return fire.

White flag: This flag was typically raised to show surrender. It was very rare that anyone would fight under the white flag.

This is obviously a video game so no matter what flag you see it should be taken with a grain of salt. But if you're looking to play more realistically I hope this helps.

@kaydence This was one of the only things I really didn't like. They gave no useful descriptions for people to properly use the flags. If you want to play accurate to history only a few of them really apply:

Jolly roger: This was raised by pirates to signal that it is a pirate ship and if the ship they're approaching surrenders they will not be killed, but they will be robbed. Typically used to steal from merchants.

Red flag: This flag means you'll give no quarter to hostile ships. It doesn't necessarily mean you will be aggressive, but that if you're attacked you WILL return fire.

White flag: This flag was typically raised to show surrender. It was very rare that anyone would fight under the white flag.

This is obviously a video game so no matter what flag you see it should be taken with a grain of salt. But if you're looking to play more realistically I hope this helps.

And btw i love the idea of using flags as a form of deception. It’s brilliant. But if I roll up on another ship with a checkered flag and then right at the last second... “HAHA!!” i switch it to a blue flag. What does that even mean? Lol. If the flags had more definitive or even suggested meanings, that could make all the difference.

@carcinogenetxc said in Flag Meanings?:

@kaydence
I think it's quite fun
You can derive a little meaning from each but in a Sea of Salty Scallywags, I think it's fantastic that they could mean anything.
I'm sure a lot will use the Red, Blue and Yellow flags to show others which voyages they're doing since they correspond to the companies, but there will be plenty who fly a flag to deceive!

Hmm, didn't notice that they correspond to the different companies...

@kaydence
I think it's quite fun
You can derive a little meaning from each but in a Sea of Salty Scallywags, I think it's fantastic that they could mean anything.
I'm sure a lot will use the Red, Blue and Yellow flags to show others which voyages they're doing since they correspond to the companies, but there will be plenty who fly a flag to deceive!

@carcinogenetxc The jolly roger and the white flag are the only ones that are obvious. But what about the rest of them? The blue flag could mean one thing to you and a million other things to everyone else. Again, these are not meant as a cosmetic options, but rather a means of comunication. Not to ambiguously express what mood you’re in. They don’t work if they don’t have a definitive meaning behind them. It’s the basic foundation for any form of comunication.

@carcinogenetxc Exactly.

Though in the end the flag "meanings" will vary from encounter to encounter. They're more guidelines than rules ;)

@el-Dunco

That's for you to decide!
I fly the blue or the jolly roger, the blue when I'm just cruising and the Jolly Roger when I feel confident in my ability to defend myself.

Almost like it may be player driven meanings..