In days of yore when men fought in sailing ships, a naval captain could only signal his intention to surrender his vessel by ‘striking the colours’—that is, by ordering the ship’s flag to be lowered. In the heat of a naval battle, however, the rope holding a ship’s flag could easily be shot away. The flag would then come fluttering down leading both the crew and the foe to conclude (wrongly) that the captain was surrendering. There was only one effective remedy—‘nail’ the flag to the mast before the shooting started. This ensured that no false signal of surrender could be made as long as the mast itself was still standing. Of course, it also meant that no signal of surrender, even an intentional one, could ever be made. The expression ‘nailing one’s flag to the mast’ has passed into modern usage as a way of saying that no surrender or compromise is possible.

中文翻译：

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将旗帜钉在桅杆上——公共债务中的超级优先承诺

在过去人们在帆船上作战的日子里，海军舰长只能通过“打彩”——即通过下令降下船旗来表示他打算投降他的船只。然而，在激烈的海战中，悬挂船旗的绳索很容易被弹开。然后旗帜会飘落下来，导致船员和敌人（错误地）得出结论，船长正在投降。只有一种有效的补救措施——在射击开始前将旗帜“钉”在桅杆上。这确保了只要桅杆本身仍然站立，就不会发出投降的错误信号。当然，这也意味着绝不能发出投降的信号，哪怕是故意的。