I first ran into flag theory the way most people do: buried in an offshore forum, wrapped in enough tinfoil that I almost closed the tab. The pitch sounded like a fugitive’s escape plan. Second passports. Numbered bank accounts. A guy on a beach who technically lives nowhere.

Then I actually read the idea instead of the caricature. And flag theory turned out to be something much more boring, much more useful, and — for a Canadian specifically — much more legal than the internet lets on.