Flag Off or 'Flagged Off means official start or beginning of an event or undertaking. In this a piece of cloth, usually rectangular in size, and of distinctive color and design, is used as a symbol, standard, signal, or emblem and waved.
It is an idiomatic expression used mostly in South Asia, indicating the commencement of some event- usually involving travel or movement. Such an event is either an expedition, a race, or a rally. Mostly it is a checkered flag of black and white or a flag of single color (any color) with or without emblem or signage of the event printed on it. As a ceremonial beginning often involves waving of a flag by a dignitary to signify the formal commencement of an event, it's called flag off. In naval or maritime context, a maritime flag or a naval ensign may be waved to signify the start of an expedition. On the other hand, for stationary events, such as a sporting tournament, political summit, literary meet, etc. the equivalent expression used is
kick-off.
Significance
Even though the word 'Off' often stands for a negative meaning, 'Flag off' is used to mean that somebody gave the orders to start something like a 'race'. One of the most famous flag off was at the
Formula 1 competition, when the first world championship race was held at
Silverstone race track in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
on May 13, 1950. A similar significant flag off event happened when the then Railway Minister
Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...
flagged off India's first ever point-to-point non-stop train, the Sealdah-New Delhi
Duronto Express
Duronto Express is a category of long-distance non-stop source to destination trains run by the Indian Railways. Initially these trains did not have any ticketing stops between the origin and the destination, but since January 2016 it is possi ...
, from the
Sealdah
Sealdah is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Etymology
Jackals (''sheal'' in Bengali) howled around Sealdah. Antiquarians identify it as Shrigaldwipa (Jackal Island). Nearby Beliaghata w ...
station in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
on January 20, 2013. The 1st ever ‘SBI Green Marathon’, an
SBI initiative to promote sustainability was flagged off from
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
on March 25, 2018.
References
{{reflist
Racing