BS Flag History

The History of the Official BS Flag™
by David Silverstein, president and founder of BS Industries, Inc. and
CEO of Breakthrough Management Group

It was around 1989 that someone first threw the proverbial BS Flag at me. The person was Commander Donald Randall, Commanding Officer of the USS Norfolk, the Los Angeles Class Nuclear Powered Attack Submarine on which I was stationed. In fact, I had the flag thrown at me often.

You see, young submarine officers are trained to do basically every job on the ship over the course of many years. So by the time you rise to command, you know your ship, and how it works, as well as just about anyone onboard. Back then, it wasn’t unusual for a young officer like myself to walk into the commanding officer’s stateroom and offer an explanation for a broken pump, or a piece of electronic equipment, only to have the BS Flag thrown (verbally) by the much more experienced and knowledgeable commander. One of CDR Randall’s favorite sayings, which he used with me a lot, was “Throw the bullsh*t flag!” He may not have invented it, but it was the first time I ever heard it.

When I eventually left the Navy, I decided to give CDR Randall a gag gift he would never forget. I found a sporting goods store in a shopping mall, bought a number of yellow penalty flags, and then found someone with a t-shirt painting cart and asked him if he could paint “Bullsh*t Flag” on the penalty flags. On the way to my going away party, with a box of painted flags sitting on the front seat, I realized, “Hey, these things are actually pretty cool.” I took two from the box, tossed them in the back seat, and said to myself, “I’ll keep these, and CDR Randall can have the rest.” That was in 1991 or ‘92.

After that, the BS Flag sat on my desk for nearly 10 years. It was only after I became a CEO that I realized how useful the BS Flag could be.

An employee complained to me that a number of people were having trouble with a company manager who “never listens to anyone.” To help them work through their issues, I had a bunch of new BS Flags made, passed them out to the employees and told them, “The next time you think she’s not listening, feel free to throw the BS Flag.” The point was to empower them to “call bullsh*t,” but at the same time inject a little humor to diffuse any defensive tendencies on the part of the manager. Believe it or not, it worked.

People started carrying BS Flags to meetings and proudly displaying them on their desk. Over time, the idea grew. Now people use them anytime they want to politely and subtly communicate with someone, but want to avoid a confrontation. Sometimes people find a few flags on their desks with a message. Sometimes a flag gets hurled across the room. A few people even took their BS Flag home and gave it to a spouse who, in turn, took it to their office and found it useful there. Anywhere the BS Flag is thrown, it promotes—and enables—better communication.I recently decided that it was time to share the BS Flag with the rest of the world. As we prepared to do so, it seemed that we were almost too late. Somehow the word had gotten out. Someone had actually started a business selling bullsh*t flags a few years ago (we bought that business). A few others had registered related domain names (we’ve bought most of them, too).

Throwing the BS Flag is an idea whose time has certainly come. In addition to BSFlag.com, we’re writing a book about the Bullsh*t Flag and the best ways to use it effectively. And, we sent 5,000 BS Flags to the BCS Championship on January 8, because there’s nothing more frustrating than a bullsh*t call in a championship game. By this time next year, I expect that many more people will know when it’s time to THROW THE BS FLAG!