nail one's colours to the mast
English
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nail one's colours to the mast
Where it comes from
From the naval military practice of displaying one's colours (signal flags or insignia) from the mast of a ship during battle to show loyalty. To surrender, one would strike one's colours, i.e. take down one's flag. If a ship nailed its colours to the mast, it would fight to the death and not surrender.
verb nails one's colours to the mast · nailing one's colours to the mast · nailed one's colours to the mast · pin one's colours to the mast
- To clearly show one's support for a side or opinion in a dispute, often indicating an intention to defend that side to the end. Stood for his country’s glory fast, And nail’d her colours to the mast!
Translations
Every language
verb to clearly show one's support
| Deutsch | Farbe bekennen, hartnäckig aushalten, nicht kapitulieren |
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Talk about this word "nail one's colours to the mast." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/nail%20one's%20colours%20to%20the%20mast. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026. nail one's colours to the mast. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/nail%20one's%20colours%20to%20the%20mast "nail one's colours to the mast." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/nail%20one's%20colours%20to%20the%20mast.Cite this
@misc{nail_one_s_colours_to_the_mast_2026,
title = {nail one's colours to the mast},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/nail%20one's%20colours%20to%20the%20mast},
urldate = {2026-11-07}
}
