Flags are short, parallel lines attached to the top or bottom of the stems of eighth notes and shorter notes to indicate their duration. Eighth notes have a single flag, sixteenth notes have two flags, 32nd notes have three flags, etc. Adjacent notes of similar duration are usually connected to each other with ligatures or beams, which are more organized-appearing versions of flags. Quarter notes and half notes have stems but no flags, and whole notes have neither stems nor flags.