While spatial plastic mechanism analysis has been widely and successfully applied to thinwalled steel structures to analyse the post-failure behaviour of sections and connections, there remains some contention in the literature as to the basic capacity of an inclined yield line. The simple inclined hinge commonly forms as part of the more complex spatial mechanism, which may involve a number of hinges perpendicular or inclined to the direction of thrust. In this paper some of the existing theories are compared with single inclined yield lines that form in flange outstands, by comparing the theories with plate tests of plates simply supported on three sides with the remaining (longitudinal) edge free. The existing mechanism theories do not account for different in-plane displacement gradients of the loaded edge, nor the slenderness of the plates, and produce conservative results. A modified theory is presented whereby uniform and non-uniform in-plane displacements of the loaded edge of the flange, and the slenderness of the flange, are accounted for. The modified theory is shown to compare well with the plate test data, and its application to flanges that are components of sections in compression and/or bending is presented.