4 S 8 FLA 
flag in Great Britain is the royal ftandard, which is hoifted 
when the king or queen are on-board ; the fecond is that 
of the anchor of hope, which charafterifes the lord high 
admiral, or lords commiflioners of the admiralty : and the 
third is the union-flag, in which the erodes of St. George, 
St. Andrew, and St. Patrick, are now blended. This flag 
is appropriated to the admiral of the fleet, who is the 
fil'd; military officer under the lord high admiral. The 
next flag after the union is that of tiie white fqnadron, at 
the main-mad head ; and the lad, which charafterifes an 
admiral, is the blue, at the fame mad-head. Fora vice- 
admiral, the fird flag is the red, the fecond the white, 
the third the blue, at the flag-daft' on the fore-mad.—The 
fame order proceeds with regard to the rear-admirals, 
whofe flags are hoifled on the top of the mizen-maft : 
the lowed flag in our navy is accordingly the blue on the 
mi zen-mad. 
The French and Spaniards, when your flags appear, 
Forget their hatred, and confent to fear. Waller. 
A fpecies of doneufea for fmooth pavements, \_flache, old 
French.] Flagdone will not fplit, as date does, being 
found formed into flags, or thin plates, which are no other 
than Co many ftrata. Woodward. 
FLAG-OFFICER, J'. A commander of a fqnadron.— 
Her grandfather was a flag- officer. Addifon. 
FLAG-SHIP, f. The fliip in which the commander of 
a fleet or fquadron ufually fails. 
FLA'GELET, J. I flageolet, Fr.] A fmall flute; a 
fmall indrument of wind mafic.—Play us a lelfon on your 
flag elet. More. 
FLAGEL / LANTS,y. A fe< 5 L of fanatics who chaftifed 
and difeiplined themfelves with whips in public. This 
feiT’is faid to have had its rife in Italy in the year 1260 ; 
its author one Rainier, a hermit; and it was propagated 
through almod all the countries of Europe. A great 
number of perfons of all ages and fexes made proceflions, 
walking two by two with their (boulders bare, which were 
whipped till the blood ran down, in order to appeafe the 
indignation of an offended Deity, againft the wickednefs 
of the age. They were then called the devout ; and 
having eftabliflied a fuperior, he was called the general of 
the devotion. Gibbon, however, traces the origin of the 
flagellants’to a much earlier date, when the avarice of the 
monks and dignitaries of the Romi(h church adopted the 
maxim of granting pleniary indulgences, and remiflion of 
fins for a certain number of years, on receiving an ade¬ 
quate fum of money for the life of the church. It was 
proclaimed as a maxim of the canon law, that whoever 
could not pay with his purfe, ntuft pay with his body ; 
and hence the practice of flagellation was adopted by the 
monks as a cheap though painful equivalent. By a fan¬ 
ciful arithmetic, a year of penance was taxed at three 
.thoufand laflies; each century of lalhes was famStified 
with the recital of a pfalm ; and the whole pfalter, witli 
the accompaniment of 15,000 (tripes, was equivalent to 
five years : and fo fafhionable was this expiatory mode of 
penance become, that Baronins, in the year 1036, informs 
us that even ladies of quality expofed their bare backs to 
the difeipline of the holy fcourge. At length, however, 
the emperors and pontiffs thought proper to put an end 
to this religious phrenfy, by declaring all devout whip¬ 
ping contrary to the divine law, and prejudicial to the 
foul’s eternal intereft. 
FLAGELLA'RI A, f. [from the form of the leaves 
like a fcourge.] In botany; a genus of the clafs hexan- 
dria, order trigynia, natural order tripetaloideae, (afpa- 
ragi, J U JF-) The generic characters are—Calyx: peri- 
anthium fix-leaved, (('ix-parted, Syfl.) equal, (fpreading- 
beli-fliaped, JuJf.) leaflets ovate, permanent, the outer 
ones (harper, (all concave, Gartner.) Corolla: none. 
Stamina : filaments fix, filiform, almod the length of the 
calyx ; antherae oblong. Piftillum : germ ovate, very 
fmall ; ftyle length of the (lamens, trifid; ftigmas three, 
funple, flattifli, permanent. Pericarpium : druperound- 
F L A , 
ifli> one-celled, crowned with the flower, (fuperior, three- 
celled, Gart. three-feeded, two frequently abortive, JuJf.) 
Seed : around (tone or nucleus.— EJflentialChard 8 .tr. Ca¬ 
lyx, fix-parted; corolla, none; berry (or drupe) one- 
feeded, (two cells of the nucleus fmall and abortive.) 
Species. 1. Flagellaria Indica, or climbing flagellaria: 
ftem round, climbing ; leaves ovate, terminated by a ten¬ 
dril. A (Itrub taller than a man ; branches diftich", fcaly, 
or fheathed at the bafe ; leaves ending in a tendril, as in 
Glorioia, all protected by a long entire (heath ; flowers- 
in a panicle at the end of the ftem. It (eems to bear a 
near affinity to the cane and ruihes. Loureiro thus de- 
feribes it : Stem perennial, round, twenty feet InVh, 
climbing, with few branches; leaves Ample, oblong’, 
ovate, acuminate, three-nerved, fmooth, alternate, on 
(heathing unarmed petioles - r flowers white, in a loofe 
terminating raceme. Native of the Eaft Indies, Cochin- 
china, and of Guinea. Introduced in 1782, by the earl 
of Tankerville and Dr. Pitcairn. 
2. Flagellaria repens, or creeping flagellaria : flem 
angular, creeping; leaves jointed in pairs. Siem perennial, 
twelve feet high, branched, unarmed, fubparafitical, or 
creeping up trees by lateral fibres, but prefervingits ori¬ 
ginal root. Native of Cochin-china. 
Propagation and Culture. Sow the feeds in fmall pots of 
light earth, plunge them in the bark-bed : when they are 
fit to tranfplant, place them (ingle in fmall pots, (hading 
them till they have ftruck root, and waterin' 1 ' them 
gently. ° 
FLAGELLA'TION, f. tfiagello, Lat.] The ufe of 
the (courge: 
By Bridewell all defeend, 
As morning pray’r and jlagellation end. Garth. 
FLAGGI'NESS,/".Laxity; limbernefs; want of tenfion, 
FLAG'GY, aif;'. Weak; lax; limber, not (lift'; not 
tenfe : 
His flaggy wings, when forth he did difplay, 
Were like two fails, in which the hollow wind 
Is gather’d full, and worketh fpeedy way. Spenfer. 
Weak in fade ; infipid. Full of flags. 
FLAGPTIOUS, adj. [flagitius, Lat.] Wicked; vil¬ 
lainous; atrocious.—Perjury is a crime of fo flagitious a« 
nature, we cannot be too careful in avoiding every ap¬ 
proach towards it. Addifon. 
But if in noble minds fome dregs remain, 
Not yet purg’d off, of fpleen, and four difdain, 
Difcharge that rage on more provoking crimes, 
Nor fear a dearth in thefe flagitious times. Pope-. 
Guilty of crimes r 
He dies, fad outcaft of each church and ftate, 
And, harder (till , flagitious yet not great. Pope. 
FLAGPTIOUSNESS,y’. Wickednefs; villainy. 
FLA'GNAC, a town of France, in the department of 
the Aveiron, and chief place of a canton, in the difrritt of 
Albin: one league and a half north of Albin, and three 
and a Half eaft of Figeac. 
FLA'GON.y. \_jflacced, Welfli ; plaxe, Sax. flajhe y 
Dan. flafon, Fr. fla/co , Ital. jlafco , Span.] A copious 
drinking veflel: 
His trufty flagon, full of potent juice, 
Was hanging by, worn thin with age and ufe. Rofcommon. 
On 0flagon walks the round, that none fhould think 
They either change, or (tint him in his drink. Dryden. 
FLA'GRANCY, f. [flagranti.a,~L&t.'} Burning; heat; 
fire.—Luft caufeth a flagrancy in the eyes, as the light and 
the touch are the things defi-red, and therefore the (pints 
refort to thofe parts. Bacon. 
FLA'GRANT, adj. [Jlagrans, Lat.l Ardent; burn, 
ing j eager. It is always uled figuratively.—A thing 
2 which 
