also called flag of registration · vessel flag
The country a boat or ship is registered in, whose laws govern the vessel.
A flag state is the country a boat is registered in, and its laws are the ones that follow the vessel around the world. Do not mix it up with flag theory, which is a personal tax strategy of spreading your life across countries; this is specifically about a ship's nationality. For people who live aboard, the flag decides taxes, safety rules and rights much as a passport does for a person.
You buy a sailboat to live on and register it under a particular country's flag. From then on, that country's rules on inspections, crew paperwork and taxes govern the boat wherever you sail, even when you are anchored on the far side of the world.
For liveaboards it affects taxes, regulations and rights, much as citizenship does for a person.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These labels differ by how settled you are and why you moved.
A digital nomad works remotely while moving between places, a slowmad does the same but stays months at a time, and a perpetual traveller keeps moving specifically to avoid becoming resident anywhere; an expat lives abroad but settled, and an immigrant means to stay for good.
Flag theory and base-building are strategies for spreading your residence, banking and citizenship across countries, while a third culture kid and nomad family travel describe raising children in this life.
Flag state is the odd one out here, meaning the country a boat is registered in.
Base-building strategy · Expat · Flag theory · Nomad couple / family travel · Perpetual traveller · Third culture kid
LOOSELY DEFINED. This term is used widely but not consistently, and its precise meaning shifts by country and by who is speaking. Treat it as a lead, not a rule.
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