History Main / WhiteFlag

* ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'': After a series of inconclusive battles, the human colonists of Planet Solo decide to negotiate a ceasefire with the HumanAliens who’ve been attacking them, and raise white flags over their starship to display their peaceful intentions (having failed to reach them by radio — their communication technology is too different). Unfortunately, to said aliens, raising a white flag is a [[ThrowingDownTheGauntlet declaration of total war and lifelong vendetta]], and scramble their forces in a panic.

* A white flag was the national flag and naval ensign of [[UsefulNotes/FrenchPoliticalSystem France after the Bourbon restoration]]. No great surprise the following Orleanist dynasty restored ''La Tricolore'' of the revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. The white flag even played a key role in preventing a second Bourbon restoration and making France permanently a republic. When the Second French Empire in 1870 collapsed due to the UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar, the Bourbon heir Henri, comte de Chambord, was offered the throne. Henri demanded that he would only do so if the white flag was restored. The Tricolor was by this point a beloved symbol of French unity, so the French Third Republic was established on what was meant to be a temporary basis, so they could wait until the comte de Chambord died and the more reasonable Orléanist heir Philippe, comte de Paris (who besides being the Orléanist heir was recognized by most Legitimists as next in line after the childless comte de Chambord) could replace him. But the comte de Chambord stubbornly stayed alive until 1883, by which point public opinion had swung against monarchism and the "temporary" Third Republic lasted until Franch was conquered by Nazi Germany in 1940. Ironically, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the comte de Chambord had himself created a "compromise" flag in his youth that combined the Tricolor with the royal coat of arms]], but in his 50s he was apparently much more stubborn about fully returning to the old ways and symbols of the Ancien Régime. In short, he was unable to become King of France because he insisted on flying a white flag. The jokes write themselves.

* A white flag was the national flag and naval ensign of [[UsefulNotes/FrenchPoliticalSystem France after the Bourbon restoration]]. No great surprise the following Orleanist dynasty restored ''La Tricolore'' of the revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. The white flag even played a key role in preventing a second Bourbon restoration and making France permanently a republic. When the Second French Empire in 1870 collapsed due to the UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar, the Bourbon heir Henri, comte de Chambord, was offered the throne. Henri demanded that he would only do so if the white flag was restored. The Tricolor was by this point a beloved symbol of French unity, so the French Third Republic was established on what was meant to be a temporary basis, so they could wait until the comte de Chambord died and the more reasonable Orleanist heir Philippe, comte de Paris (who was second in line after the childless comte de Chambord) could replace him. But the comte de Chambord stubbornly stayed alive until 1883, by which point public opinion had swung against monarchism and the "temporary" Third Republic lasted until Franch was conquered by Nazi Germany in 1940. Ironically, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the comte de Chambord had himself created a "compromise" flag in his youth that combined the Tricolor with the royal coat of arms]], but in his 50s he was apparently much more stubborn about fully returning to the old ways and symbols of the Ancien Régime. In short, he was unable to become King of France because he insisted on flying a white flag. The jokes write themselves.

* A white flag was the national flag and naval ensign of [[UsefulNotes/FrenchPoliticalSystem France after the Bourbon restoration]]. No great surprise the following Orleanist dynasty restored ''La Tricolore'' of the revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. The white flag even played a key role in preventing a second Bourbon restoration and making France permanently a republic. When the Second French Empire in 1870 collapsed due to the UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar, the Bourbon heir Henri, comte de Chambord, was offered the throne. Henri demanded that he would only do if the white flag was restored. The Tricolor was by this point a beloved symbol of French unity, so the French Third Republic was established on what was meant to be a temporary basis, so they could wait until the comte de Chambord died and the more reasonable Orleanist heir Philippe, comte de Paris (who was second in line after the childless comte de Chambord) could replace him. But the comte de Chambord stubbornly stayed alive until 1883, by which point public opinion had swung against monarchism and the "temporary" Third Republic lasted until Franch was conquered by Nazi Germany in 1940. Ironically, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the comte de Chambord had himself created a "compromise" flag in his youth that combined the Tricolor with the royal coat of arms]], but in his 50s he was apparently much more stubborn about fully returning to the old ways and symbols of the Ancien Régime. In short, he was unable to become King of France because he insisted on flying a white flag. The jokes write themselves.

Don't use it just to [[ISurrenderSuckers lure your enemies closer]] for a clear shot, though - that is a [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar war crime]]. White flags can also be used for negotiating things other than surrender (e.g., a prisoner exchange) - the basic meaning behind the white flag is "Don't shoot, we wish to talk about something."

* ''Fanfic/FFSIBelieveInYou'': Sidon's group uses one to signal their intent to parley when meeting with the foreign Zora, although in a twist Hyrulean peoples traditionally use ''black'' flags for this purpose.

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Kangaroo}}: If a large, malevolent ape succeeds in stealing Mama's boxing gloves, she becomes defenseless, and pressing the Punch button only results in her waving a white flag of surrender. Fortunately, her gloves are restored after a few seconds.

* North Italy of ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia,'' being a LovableCoward and ''constantly'' DistressedDude, makes frequent use of these. At one point, he's shown ''mass-producing'' them, gives them as gifts to his friend [[DrillSergeantNasty Germany]], and turns them into alien costumes that the nations use in TheMovie.

* Subverted in ''Series/{{Westworld}}'''s episode ''[[Recap/WestworldS01E07TrompeLOeil TrompeLOeil]]''; the Confederados trapped William, Dolores and Lawrence/El Lazlo on the train after the latter stole their nitro and replaced it with tequila. A boxcar door opens and out gallops one of Lazlo's men, carrying a white flag. Just as the Confederado officer gets close, he notices clear liquid flowing out of the man;s ear. [[spoiler:Lazlo uses the distraction to shoot his already-dead man, filled with some of the nitro, and give them a chance to make a break for it.]]

* In the early-50s cartoon "Southern-Fried Rabbit" of ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunny'' has the rabbit waving one so he can ask Yosemite Sam why he's guarding the Mason-Dixon line. It turns out that Sam has orders from General Lee to do so, and he doesn't see a little thing like "the war being over for nearly 90 years" as a reason to stop.
** In "Homeless Hare," Bugs spends the bulk of the cartoon battling an obnoxious construction worker who has razed his hole in the ground so a skyscraper can go up. After a typical Bugs onceover, he issues the ultimatum "Well, toodles...do I get my home back or do I have to get tough?" Amidst the rubble and ruins Bugs issued, the construction worker puts up a white flag.

* In ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', after Jackie is shrunk down, he attempts to get Tohru's attention by holding white flag big enough for him to carry and wave, though Tohru fails to notice it.

* Inverted with the [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball Chicago Cubs]] after every home game at Wrigley Field. Atop the scoreboard is a masthead on which, among others, either a solid-white flag with a blue "W" on it or a solid-blue flag with a white "L" on it is flown depending on whether the Cubs won the game that day; if it's a doubleheader that was split, both flags are flown. The tradition goes back to at least the 1940's in order to allow riders coming home from work via UsefulNotes/ChicagoL Red Line trains passing by the stadium at Addison Station (less than a block away) to know who won that day. The trope used to be played straight with the "L" flag being colored white until the 1980's.

* In the Johto saga of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' Anime, after the elders defeated several bandits trying to steal digletts and dugtrios, the bandits waved a white flag of surrender. Then again, they weren't actually trying to steal the digletts/dugtrios so much as they are trying to test their elders as to whether they can continue to defend their area.

Sometimes a character will raise a white flag, only for it to be shot off or filled with bullet holes. In this instance, ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption.

* In the ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} short ''[[WartimeCartoon Blunder Below]]'', after Popeye gives a spinach-powered thrashing to a Japanese submarine, a Rising Sun pops out of it and the "sun" sets to turn the flag white.

** In ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', Vimes's First of Foot (which in Vimes's head aren't a regiment at all, but still a police force) march under a white flag to represent "what they're fighting for".
** In ''Discworld/NightWatch'', a soldier waves a white flag to request a brief ceasefire so his side can remove their dead.

** In "Homeless Hare," Bugs spends the bulk of the cartoon battling an obnoxious construction worker who has razed his hole in the ground so a skyscraper can go up. After a typical Bugs onceover, he issues the ultimatum "Well, toodles...do I get my home back or do I have to get tough?" Amidst the rubble and ruins Bugs issud, the construction worker puts up a white flag.

* Inverted with the [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball Chicago Cubs]] after every home game at Wrigley Field. Atop the scoreboard is a masthead on which, among others, either a solid-white flag with a blue "W" on it or a solid-blue flag with a white "L" on it is flown depending on whether the Cubs won the game that day (Wrigley did not install lights to allow night games until 1988, so by default the Cubs played their home games during the daytime -- even now rules limit the Cubs to around 30 night games out of 81 a season because the field is located in a largely residential neighborhood); if it's a doubleheader that was split, both flags are flown. The tradition goes back to at least the 1940's in order to allow riders coming home from work via UsefulNotes/ChicagoL Red Line trains passing by the stadium at Addison Station (less than a block away) to know who won that day. The trope used to be played straight with the "L" flag being colored white until the 1980's.

* Inverted with the [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball Chicago Cubs]] after every home game at Wrigley Field. Atop the scoreboard is a masthead on which, among others, either a solid-white flag with a blue "W" on it or a solid-blue flag with a white "L" on it is flown depending on whether the Cubs won the game that day (if it's a doubleheader that was split, both flags are flown). The tradition goes back to at least the 1940's in order to allow riders coming home from work via UsefulNotes/ChicagoL Red Line trains passing by the stadium at Addison Station (less than a block away) to know who won that day. The trope used to be played straight with the "L" flag being colored white until the 1980's.

* Inverted with the [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball Chicago Cubs]] after every home game at Wrigley Field. Atop the scoreboard is a masthead on which, among others, either a solid-white flag with a blue "W" on it or a solid-blue flag with an "L" on it is flown depending on the outcome of the game. The tradition goes back to at least the 1940's in order to allow riders coming home from work via UsefulNotes/ChicagoL Red Line trains passing by the stadium at Addison Station (less than a block away) to know who won that day. The trope used to be played straight with the "L" flag being colored white until the 1980's.