Part of an analog chess clock. As the minute hand on the clock nears the 12, the flat is pushed upward. When the minute hand reaches 12 it no longer holds up the flag and it falls. The falling of the flag indicates that the player's time has expired, and if the requisite number of moves have not been played, the player is said to "lose the game on time" (i.e. the game is lost because time ran out, not because of the position on the board, although many games are lost on time when the position is poor and the losing player uses large amounts of time in an effort to try to find a way to save the game). <>