A small flag held in the hand and waved to send signals, communicate messages, or show support.
Compound of 'hand' and 'flag,' both from Middle English/Old English origins. 'Flag' originally meant a piece of cloth or a tuft, later coming to mean a banner or signal cloth waved by hand.
Before radio and electronic communication, armies used handflag signaling (called semaphore) to communicate across distances—sailors would memorize the alphabet where each flag position represented a letter, essentially 'texting' through coordinated arm movements.
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