The Ink Flag (Hebrew: דֶּגֶל הַדְּיוֹ‎‎, Degel HaDyo) was a handmade Israeli flag raised during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War to mark the capture of Eilat.

On March 5, 1949, Israel launched Operation Ovda, the last military maneuver of the war. On March 10, the Israeli Defense Forces reached the shores of the Red Sea at Umm Rashrash, west of Aqaba (the biblical Elath), and captured it without a battle. The Negev Brigade and Golani Brigade took part in the operation. To symbolize their victory, they raised a makeshift flag created from a white sheet and a bottle of ink.

The improvised flag was made on the order of Negev Brigade commander Nahum Sarig, when it was discovered that the Brigade did not have an Israeli flag on hand. The soldiers found a sheet, drew two ink stripes, and sewed on a Star of David torn off a first-aid kit.^{[dubious – discuss]}

In Eilat, a bronze sculpture by Israeli sculptor Bernard Reder commemorates the event. The famous photo of the raising of the Ink Flag, taken by the soldier Micha Perry, has been compared to the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima.

Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, or quill. Thicker inks, in paste form, are used extensively in letterpress and lithographic printing.

Ink can be a complex medium, composed of solvents, pigments, dyes, resins, lubricants, solubilizers, surfactants, particulate matter, fluorescers, and other materials. The components of inks serve many purposes; the ink’s carrier, colorants, and other additives control flow and thickness of the ink and its appearance when dry.

Ink formulas vary, but commonly involve four components:

Inks generally fall into four classes:

Pigment inks are used more frequently than dyes because they are more color-fast, but they are also more expensive, less consistent in color, and have less of a color range than dyes.

Pigments are solid, opaque particles suspended in ink to provide color. Pigment molecules typically link together in crystalline structures that are 0.1–2 µm in size and comprise 5–30 percent of the ink volume. Qualities such as hue, saturation, and lightness vary depending on the source and type of pigment.

A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.

The first flags were used to assist military coordination on battlefields, and flags have since evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is similarly challenging (such as the maritime environment where semaphore is used). National flags are potent patriotic symbols with varied wide-ranging interpretations, often including strong military associations due to their original and ongoing military uses. Flags are also used in messaging, advertising, or for other decorative purposes. The study of flags is known as vexillology, from the Latin vexillum meaning flag or banner.

In antiquity, field signs or standards were used in warfare that can be categorized as vexilloid or "flag-like". Examples include the Achaemenid battle standard Derafsh Kaviani, and the standards of the Roman legions such as the eagle of Augustus Caesar's Xth legion, or the dragon standard of the Sarmatians; the latter was let fly freely in the wind, carried by a horseman, but judging from depictions it was more similar to an elongated dragon kite than to a simple flag.

Mike Vallely ( /ˈvæləjiː/ VAL-ə-yee; (1970-06-29)June 29, 1970), also known as Mike V, is a professional skateboarder. Mike is also a musician, actor, television personality, stuntman, professional wrestler and FHL hockey player.

Mike Vallely was born in Edison, New Jersey to Art and Mary Vallely. Mike has an older brother, Joe, and a younger sister, Amy. Growing up Mike played little league baseball, but in 1984 at age 14 Vallely discovered skateboarding and reggae music.

After getting into reggae music, Vallely began to borrow a skateboard from a friend and thus began a life of dedication to skateboarding. On Christmas of 1984, Vallely's parents got him a Sims brand Jeff Phillips pro model skateboard. Besides street skating Mike also began vert skating and often skated at Tom Groholski's ramp and The Barn Ramp, both located in New Jersey. He also skated The Brooklyn Banks, a famed skate spot under New York's Brooklyn Bridge.

In 1986, Mike moved with his family to Virginia Beach, Virginia for a short time and while living there befriended some local skaters. Skating with a local team called "Subculture" in the Kempsville area of Virginia Beach, Vallely tested his skills on the streets in local contests, as well as on neighborhood quarter pipes and launch ramps. In the spring of '86 the Virginia Beach Skate park, Mount Trashmore hosted a professional vert skateboard contest. Vallely and his friend began skating in the car park adjacent to the vert ramp during practice, and drew the attention of professional skateboarder Neil Blender, from atop the ramp. Lance Mountain and Stacy Peralta, both of Powell Peralta and Bones Brigade were impressed with Vallely. Seeing Vallely skate on a busted up board, Lance gave him a brand new skateboard. And following the impromptu demo, Peralta offered Vallely an amateur sponsorship deal with Powell Peralta Skateboards.