A bull flag is a short, orderly pause after a strong move up. The sharp rise is the pole. The pause, where price drifts sideways or slightly lower in a tight channel, is the flag. The idea is simple: buyers are resting, not leaving.
On this page5 sections
What a healthy flag looks like
- A clear pole: a fast, strong advance, often on heavy volume.
- A tight flag: small candles, a narrow range, and lighter volume while it forms. Calm is the key word.
- A short pause: usually days to a couple of weeks. Long, sloppy flags lose their meaning.
- Shallow depth: the flag gives back only a small part of the pole.
The trigger and the stop
The trigger is a break above the top of the flag, best with volume picking up again. The stop goes below the flag low. If price falls through the low of the pause, the "resting buyers" idea is wrong.
A worked example (hypothetical chart)
A hypothetical stock runs from $20 to $26 in five sessions on strong volume. Over the next seven days it drifts between $25 and $26 on lighter volume. The plan: buy above $26.10, stop at $24.80, risk $1.30 a share. A first target near the height of the pole projected from the breakout gives a reward-to-risk ratio worth checking with the Ratio calculator.
Flags that tend to fail
- The flag drops deep, giving back half the pole or more.
- Volume stays heavy on the down days inside the flag.
- The pattern drags on for weeks with wide, choppy candles.
The habit to build
When you spot a strong pole, do not chase it. Write the flag high and flag low on your watchlist and wait. Either the trigger comes, or the idea is dropped without costing anything.
Education only, not financial advice. Patterns describe what happened; they do not guarantee what happens next.
Get the next note by email
Short, dated notes like this one, collected into one calm weekly email. No hype, no tips, no spam.
Get Weekly NotesThis note applies one idea from our library. For the complete picture, read the bullish chart patterns guide.