While the condemned is being escorted to the execution grounds, one man stands at the courthouse door with a flag in his hand, and another sits astride a horse at a distance. If someone says, "I have grounds to argue for his acquittal," the flagman waves the flags, and the horse with its rider races to the execution party and halts it. Even if the condemned himself says, "I have grounds for my own acquittal," they return him to the courthouse to hear his arguments, even four or five times, as long as there is substance to his words.
Art: Rue Mosnier with Flags by Edouard Manet