Entry · catalog no. 1198
flag boy
/ /ˈflæɡ bɔɪ/ /FLAG boy
noun · New Orleans · 1880s
✓ Verified
1.
A rank in the New Orleans Black Masking Indian gangs. The spy boy runs several blocks ahead scouting for another gang; he signals the flag boy; the flag boy — a block or two back, and at least a block ahead of the chief — signals the Big Chief by working the flag or the staff, and carries the chief's answer back forward. He is the relay, and on a day when two gangs meet, the whole encounter passes through him first.
“Flag boy caught the signal, put the staff up, and by the time the chief came around the corner everybody knew who was coming.”
2.
By extension, in ordinary speech, the person who carries word between two parties who are not yet talking directly.
“Don't make me flag boy between you and your brother.”
Origin & Attribution
Black working-class New Orleans, in a masking tradition documented from the late nineteenth century — Creole Wild West is conventionally dated to the 1880s — and still active. The ranks are named in the traditional prayer Indian Red, and gangs vary: Wild Man clears the crowd near the chief, and Second Chief, Trail Chief, Big Queen, and Council Chief appear in different arrangements.
1946
Danny Barker records My Indian Red, among the earliest recordings of the prayer that names the ranks
1965
The Dixie Cups release Iko Iko on Red Bird, carrying the flag boy verse into national pop
1976
The Wild Tchoupitoulas album credits Flag Boy as a vocal role alongside Big Chief Jolly, Spy Boy, Second Chief, and Trail Chief
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The South
New Orleans · 1880s
Spoken by
Black Masking Indians of New Orleans and the neighborhoods that turn out for them
$FLAGBOThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Enduring80 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
44/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1946
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@nolakid
New Orleans, LA
@htxdri
Houston, TX
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
The Dixie Cups, Iko Iko, Red Bird Records, 1965
song · recorded
■
The Wild Tchoupitoulas, self-titled, Mango/Island, 1976, produced by Allen Toussaint
album · released
■
Michael P. Smith, Mardi Gras Indians, Pelican Publishing, 1994
book · printed
■
Jason Berry, Jonathan Foose and Tad Jones, Up from the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II, 1986
book · printed
■
+ Cite a sourceBackstreet Cultural Museum, Tremé, founded 1999 by Sylvester Francis
museum · collection
See also