English

Alternative forms

• send it up the flagpole and see who salutes

Verb

raise the flag and see who salutes

1. (idiomatic) To float an idea, (or otherwise do some action) to see what response or controversy (if any) it generates, usually as a preliminary step.
   • 1996, Jo Ann Oravec, Virtual individuals, virtual groups: Human Dimensions of Groupware and Computer Networking, page 312

     Much of the discourse on and the spirit of group interaction have an improvisational flavor: we “float trial balloons” in the groups we belong to or “raise a flag and see who salutes.”