Shakespeare Globe Theatre Flags | Elizabethan Advertising & Tudor Marketing
Tudor England: no phones, no televisions, and certainly no social media. Yet the Globe Theatre found a clever way to shout "Show today!" without printing a single word. A flag fluttering high above the thatched roof could be seen for miles across the Thames, instantly telling everyone a play would begin that afternoon (literature.stackexchange.com). Let’s explore how Shakespeare’s playhouse and its rivals turned colourful banners into the first theatrical billboards.
Globe Theatre Flag System Explained: How Shakespeare Advertised His Plays
Because the major playhouses stood outside London’s city walls, owners couldn’t rely on town criers or city posters alone to advertise their shows (crwflags.com). Instead, the Globe hoisted a flag on performance days, transforming the theatre itself into a giant signal visible from across the river (literature.stackexchange.com). A 1612 writer marvelled that "each play house advanceth his flagge in the aire, whither quickly at the waving thereof, are summoned whole troopes of men, women and children" (reconstructingtherose.tome.press).
Literacy rates were low—perhaps only a third of men and even fewer women could read well by 1600 (literature.stackexchange.com). A visual cue was essential. Even those who could not decipher a printed playbill knew that a fluttering banner meant, "There’s a play today!" Moreover, the Globe’s own flag reportedly pictured Hercules bearing a globe beneath the motto Totus mundus agit histrionem—"All the world’s a playhouse" (shakespeare.org.uk).
Globe Theatre Flag Colours Meaning: White, Black, Red Genre Codes
The Globe refined its system further with colour coded flags that advertised a play’s genre at a glance (artsemerson.org). The three main colours and their meanings were:
White Flag - Comedy
White, the colour of purity and happy endings, told crowds to expect laughter, romance and a joyful finale (internetshakespeare.uvic.ca).
Black Flag - Tragedy
Black, the hue of mourning, foreshadowed death, sorrow and weighty themes—think Hamlet or Macbeth (internetshakespeare.uvic.ca).
Red Flag - History
Red, associated with blood and battle, signalled a history play filled with kings, crowns and sword clashing patriotism (internetshakespeare.uvic.ca).
This coded palette let playgoers choose their afternoon’s entertainment simply by scanning the skyline (blogs.ncl.ac.uk).
How Globe Theatre Flags Attracted Audiences in Tudor London
The banner system was cheap, immediate and impossible to regulate from inside the city. Authorities who frowned on playhouse advertising could do little about cloth fluttering on private property across the water (crwflags.com). Raised at midday, the flag reached anyone strolling London Bridge; trumpets then blared moments before curtain time to create urgency (artsemerson.org).
Competition was fierce: nearby animal baiting pits, gambling dens and rival theatres all vied for pennies. A bold red, white or black emblem helped the Globe win that battle for attention (blogs.ncl.ac.uk). Once inside, patrons enjoyed sword fights, drums and pageantry designed to outshine the bloody spectacles of the bear garden (blogs.ncl.ac.uk).
Modern Use of Shakespeare Globe Flags Today
The reconstructed Shakespeare’s Globe on London’s South Bank raises a flag for every performance, linking twenty first century audiences to a 400 year old marketing trick (playbill.com). Across the Atlantic, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival begins each show with a ceremonial flag raising at trumpet call (atlasobscura.com). Though modern theatres rely on marquees and social media, every illuminated poster owes something to the Globe’s pioneering billboard in cloth.
Marketing Lessons from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Flags
The Globe’s fluttering banners prove that good marketing is timeless: be seen, be clear and stir the imagination. A coloured flag in 1600 played the same role an Instagram post does today—it made people think, "That looks exciting. Let’s go!" (famouswonders.com)
Sources and Further Reading
- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust – Globe Theatre
- Roger Clegg – Reconstructing the Rose
- Literature Stack Exchange – Advertising Plays in Shakespeare’s Time
- William Parkes – The Curtaine Drawer of the World (1612)
- ArtsEmerson Blog – The Life and Times of a Groundling
- Flags of the World – Globe Theatre Flags
- Atlas Obscura – Allen Elizabethan Theatre
- Playbill – Globe Season Announcement
- Shakespeare’s Globe – Official Site
- Internet Shakespeare Editions – Colour Symbolism
- FamousWonders – Globe Theatre
- Newcastle University Blog – Shakespeare Showbusiness