Meaning
To declare your allegiance to a person, party or position openly and irrevocably, committing yourself to it whatever the consequences. It implies refusal to retreat even under heavy pressure. British spelling is colours; American English typically uses colors. Formal, often political or journalistic; connotes courage as well as stubbornness. Regional use: British English.
Origin
Naval in origin. A warship surrendered by lowering, or striking, its colours, so nailing the flag to the mast made surrender impossible and announced a fight to the finish. Documented incidents exist: during the capture of the French ship Guillaume Tell on 30 March 1800 a sailor was seen to nail the French ensign to the stump of the mizzen-mast, recorded in the Foudroyant's journal published in Nelson's Dispatches (1845), and after the Chesapeake affair of 1807 American critics complained that the commodore ought to have nailed his colours to the mast (St James's Chronicle, 4 August 1807). The earliest figurative uses gathered by Word Histories are close in date: Sheridan, in a House of Commons speech of 1 December 1800, argued that Britain's colours should be nailed to the masts of the nation, and Walter Scott's Marmion (1808) praises a statesman who nailed her colours to the mast.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- nail one's colours to the mast
- nail your colors to the mast
- nail your colours to the masthead
- nail your flag to the mast
- pin your colours to the mast
Usage Examples
- The board nailed its colours to the mast and rejected the takeover without a vote.
- Early in the campaign she nailed her colours to the mast on tuition fees, whatever the cost.
- Having nailed his colours to the mast over the merger, he could hardly reverse course quietly.