Kerala is world-famous for its natural beauty and its vibrant art forms. Kerala was also world-famous many centuries ago for its spices. A time in which pepper was known as the black gold and was worth a king's ransom. The most important of Kerala's ports were in Malabar. Malabar consists of six districts, namely Kozhikode, Tellicherry, Cannanore, Kasaragode, Palghat, and Malappuram, which make up north Kerala. This was where the first European traveller, namely Vasocodi Gama, landed, a few kilometres from Kozhikode, at a place called Kappad.

Malabar is also called the land of the living gods. This is because of the vibrant art form called Theyyam. The coastline is dotted with temples and Kavus, each of which has a festival associated with it. The festivals are social events whereby all the people in proximity to the temple join together and celebrate the festival. When the festive dates are decided, flags are hoisted to inform people about the event. It’s a really colourful spectacle to see the green landscape dotted with vibrant flags, visible from ar away. This study was aimed at understanding the usage, varieties, standards, if any, and meaning of the traditional flags in north Malabar.