A Get Out of Jail Free card is an element of the board game Monopoly which has become a popular metaphor for something that will get one out of an undesired situation.
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Use in the game
The U.S. version of the board game Monopoly has two Get Out of Jail Free cards, with distinctive artwork. One, a "Community Chest" card, depicts a winged version of the game's mascot Mr. Monopoly in his tuxedo as he flies out of an open birdcage. The other, a "Chance" card, shows him booted out of a prison cell in a striped convict uniform. Using one of these cards is one of the ways a player can get out of jail; the card reads:
THIS CARD MAY BE KEPT
UNTIL NEEDED OR SOLD
GET OUT OF JAIL
Players move around the Monopoly board according to dice throws. Most of the tiles players land on are properties that can be bought. There is also a tile, the Jail, that can hold players and cause them to lose their turn until certain conditions are met. They can end up in this space by landing on the "Go to Jail" tile, throwing three doubles in a row, or drawing a "Go to Jail" card from Community Chest or Chance. The Get Out of Jail Free card frees the player from jail to continue playing and progress around the board without paying a fee, then must be returned to the respective deck upon playing it. As the card's text says, it can also be sold by the possessing player to another player for a price that is "agreeable by both". Since players would ordinarily pay $50 to leave jail, the card is rarely sold for more than that.