History Main / WhiteFlag

* 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 ''Film/SuburbanCommando'', this is PlayedForLaughs when Shep Ramsey plays the '''''HELL''''' out of an arcade game... ''and the game opens a hatch and waves the flag of surrender!''

* 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 1940s 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 1980s.

* The commercial for VideoGame/MarioBros for the UsefulNotes/Atari5200 has [[AdvertisingOnlyContinuity red plaid shirt Luigi]] under attack by Shellcreepers, Sidesteppers and Fighter Flies and ends with him waving a white flag while ducking into a pipe.

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* In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "My Favorite Duck", WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck antagonizes WesternAnimation/PorkyPig during a camping trip, using the excuse that it's not duck season yet and there's a fine for even hurting a duck. Eventually, duck season opens and Daffy desperately tries to stop Porky from shooting him. As a last resort, he waves a white flag; Porky blasts it full of holes, which spell out "Start Praying, Duck!"

* The first mention of the usage of white flags to surrender is made during the Eastern Han dynasty (AD 25–220).

* Subverted in ''Film/AssaultOnPrecinct131976''. After the initial exchange of gunfire, several of the gangbangers besieging the police station approach holding a white sheet. But instead of negotiating they smash a bottle of blood on the pavement and leave the sheet there as well, which is [[WhiteShirtOfDeath marked]] with symbols [[CouldntFindAPen painted in blood]]. Turns out it's a ''cholo'', a BloodOath taken by the gang members to kill everyone there while being NotAfraidToDie themselves.

* Subverted in ''Film/AssaultOnPrecinct131976''. After the initial exchange of gunfire, several of the gangbangers besieging the police station approach holding a white sheet. But instead of negotiating they smash a bottle of blood on the pavement and leave the sheet there as well, which is [[WhiteShirtOfDeath marked]] with symbols [[CouldntFindAPen painted in blood]]. Turns out it's a ''cholo'', a BloodOath taken by the gang members to kill everyone while being NotAfraidToDie themselves.

* Subverted in ''Film/AssaultOnPrecinct131976''. After the initial exchange of gunfire, several of the gangbangers besieging the police station approach holding a white sheet. But instead of negotiating they smash a bottle of blood on the pavement and leave the sheet there as well, which is [[WhiteShirtOfDeath marked]] with symbols [[CouldntFindAPen painted in blood]]. Turns out it's a ''cholo'', a BloodOath taken by the gang members to KillEmAll while being NotAfraidToDie themselves.

* Subverted in ''Film/AssaultOnPrecinct131976''. After the initial exchange of gunfire, several of the gangbangers besieging the police station approach holding a white sheet. But instead of negotiating they smash a bottle of blood on the pavement and leave the sheet there as well, which is [[WhiteSheetOfDeath marked]] with symbols [[CouldNotFindAPen painted in blood]]. Turns out it's a ''cholo'', a BloodOath taken by the gang members to KillEmAll while being NotAfraidToDie themselves.

Don't use it just to [[ISurrenderSuckers lure your enemies closer]] for a clear shot, though -- that is perfidy, a [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar war crime]]; moreover, in the future, white flags might end to be less accepted. 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."

Don't use it just to [[ISurrenderSuckers lure your enemies closer]] for a clear shot, though -- that is erfidy, a [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar war crime]]; moreover, in the future, white flags might end to be less accepted. 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."

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."

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':

* 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 France 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]] that would probably have been acceptable (at least as a personal flag of the monarch and/or as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_flag state flag]]), 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 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]] that would probably have been acceptable (at least as a personal flag of the monarch and/or as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_flag state flag]]), 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.

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

* In ''Film/CatInTheHat'' As Dumb Schweitzer sets up aiming the wooden bat to hit Cat in the crotch he waves the white flag frantically but it doesn’t help.

* In ''Film/CatInTheHat '' As Dumb Schweitzer sets up aiming the wooden bat to hit Cat in the crotch he waves the white flag frantically but it doesn’t help.
* In ''Film/Deadpool2016'', the titular Merc With a Mouth makes an improvised one out of his underpants. [[spoiler:He's ''this'' close to finally tracking down Francis, there's a large, armed squadron between him and Deadpool, and DP left his guns in the taxi. He therefore offers his opponents the opportunity to cease hostilities on the grounds that [[PunchClockVillain they're just getting paid]], and he won't hurt them if they don't hurt him. [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption They refuse]]. Deadpool kills everyone (except Bob) and writes Francis' name with their corpses.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}'', the blue flag serves the same purpose: a banner of peace and negotiation that even EvilOverlord Kyros will respect. On certain paths, the VillainProtagonist, working for Kyros, can choose to honor or defy this flag. The former sets them on the path of becoming a NobleDemon or even making a FaceHeelTurn, while the latter earns them serious VillainCred for the scheming, manipulation, and sheer ''cruelty'' needed to get that many Rebellion leaders together in one place for slaughter.

* A level in ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsGame's'' FictionalVideoGame ''Medal Of Homer'', Homer and Bart have to remove several white flags from the French village after Uter threw a rock at the village during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (which Homer erroneously attributes to UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar).

* The Bowser Jr. & Bowser Castles in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'' fly the white flag on the overworld after getting their Grand Stars.

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

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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E21ThePTADisbands The PTA Disbands]]", the class watches a historical reenactment of a Civil War "battle" in which Southern troops crest a hill waving white flags and requesting an unconditional surrender so that their wounded may be treated. The Union soldiers of Springfield "heroically" massacre them.

[[quoteright:300:[[Film/{{Underworld 1927}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/underworld_flag.jpg]]]]