Flag
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
In Capture the Flag Multiplayer gametypes, the Flag is what must be taken, ran back to your base, and "captured." Halo's CTF is much like the real-life game, except that you actually have a real flag on a flag pole, which is usually unheard of in the real world. Also, rather than hiding the flag, it is always in a pre-determind position, often in the middle of the base, and your only method of defending it is to kill other people and wait for them to respawn.
While carrying the flag, it temporary replaces what weapon the player was using. The flag can't be holstered, but can be used as a melee weapon. Depending on the rules of the variant, the flag can deal much more damage than a normal melee would. In the default settings for CTF in Halo 3, a flag melee is an instant kill.
Red Flag
The red flag is a white cobra on top of a black diamond.
Blue Flag
The blue flag is a blue hawk on top of two crossed blades
Images
- Halo1Flag.jpg
Spartan Carrying a Flag in Halo PC
Trivia
On Bungie.net, the description of the flag states that "It's right next to the headlight fluid." This is an obvious reference to Red vs Blue, in which Donut is tasked with finding elbow grease and headlight fluid and inadvertantly captures the Blue flag.