British Ensigns Modern Usage Other Ensigns History

In British maritime law and custom, the ensign proper to a British ship is one of several flags with a red, white or blue field, with the Union Flag in the canton (the upper corner next the staff), known as the red, blue and white ensigns respectively. Outside the nautical sphere, there are some flags which are modelled on the red, white and blue ensigns, but which use more unusual colours, e.g. the sky blue of the Royal Air Force ensign.

The Union Flag (informally known as Union Jack) is not worn at sea except by Royalty or by certain Royal Navy officers.

1 Modern usage

Since the reorganisation of 1864, the white ensign (a red St George's Cross on a white field with the Union Flag in the upper canton) is worn by the Royal Navy, Royal Yacht and Royal Squadron.

The blue ensign (dark blue field with the Union Flag in the upper canton) is the ensign of the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) and of certain ships whose masters are officers in the RNR. British government departments use a variety of blue ensigns defaced in the fly with the department badge, and colonial governments use blue ensigns defaced with the colonial badge. The flag of Australia and those of its statesAustralia, having a federal system of government, is divided into states and territories . Each of these has a capital city, as listed below. Internal States and Territories # Australian Capital Territory ( Canberra) # New South Wales ( Sydney) # Victoria as well as the flag of New ZealandThe flag of New Zealand was introduced in 1869 and adopted as the national flag in 1902. It consists of a dark blue field with the Union Flag, in the top left hand corner, and four red stars with white borders to the right. The Union Flag symbolises New Z are defaced blue ensigns.

The red ensignThe Red Ensign is a flag flown as an ensign by merchant ships and other private vessels of the United Kingdom. The red ensign has a Union Flag in the canton and may be defaced by a badge or shield in the fly. For more information see British ensigns. is for the use of the Merchant Navy and all private craft. It is also the only correct flag to be worn as courtesy flagA courtesy flag (or courtesy ensign is flown by a ship in foreign waters as a token of respect. It is a small national maritime flag of the host country that is usually worn on the starboard yardarm or crosstree. by foreign vessels in United Kingdom waters.

Many yacht clubA yacht club is a club ostensibly for the owners of yachts but more generally serving as a social club. Yacht clubs are often associated with a particular marina or port. List of well-known yacht clubs Royal Brighton Yacht Club Ocean Racing Club of Victors have royal warrant s authorising them to fly "privileged" ensigns other than the red ensign, e.g. the blue ensign, or red or blue ensigns defaced with the club's badge. Uniquely, yachts belonging to members of the Royal Yacht SquadronThe Royal Yacht Squadron (Cowes Castle The Royal Yacht Squadron is considered by many people to be the world’s most prestigious yacht club located on the coast at Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the Suffix are allowed to fly the white ensign.

2 Other ensigns

There exist also a Royal Air Force (RAF) ensign and a civil air ensign, both of which have a sky blue field, with the Union Flag in the canton. The RAF ensign is defaced with the red-white-blue RAF roundel , while the field of the civil air ensign is charged with a large dark blue cross fimbriated white. The flag of Tuvalu and that of flag of Fiji are defaced sky blue ensigns.

The flag of Niue, a self-governing dependency of New Zealand, is a yellow ensign. Even more unusually, it is the Union Flag canton rather than the fly which is defaced with a modified Southern Cross.

The flags of the British Antarctic Territory has a white field defaced with the Territory's badge, while the British Indian Ocean Territory flag has a white and blue wavy-striped field, also defaced.

The flag of the British East India Company, like the Cambridge or Grand Union Flag of the American colonies, had a red and white striped field. There were similar red-and-white and green-and-white striped ensigns in the English Navy in the 16th century.

3 History

Prior to 1864, red, white and blue were the colours of the three squadrons of the Royal Navy, which were created as a result of the reorganisation of the navy in 1652 ? by Admiral Robert Blake. Each squadron flew one of the three ensigns.

The red squadron tended to patrol the Caribbean and north Atlantic, the white the coasts of Britain, France and the Mediterranean, while the blue patrolled the south Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The flags of the various former British colonies often have grounds of the same colour as their protective squadron. Hence Bermuda has a red ground and Australia and New Zealand blue. The flag of the United States also follows this pattern. Early flags of the American Revolution were modified Red Ensigns. The Grand Union flag, added six white stripes to the Red Ensign and this flag was used during the fight for independence until the Union Flag in the corner was replaced by the current stars in 1777.

In addition to the Admiral of the Fleet (who was Admiral of the Red), each squadron also had its own Admirals, Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals, e.g. Lord Nelson was Vice Admiral of the White at time of death.

4 Canadian ensigns

In 1868, the British Admiralty made the Canadian Blue Ensign the proper flag for ships of the Canadian government, and in 1892, the Admiralty approved the use of the Canadian Red Ensign by Canadian merchant ships.

From about 1870, Canada unofficially used a Red Ensign with the arms of its provinces on one shield as its national flag (the Canadian Red Ensign). In 1924, an order-in-council made the flag official (for certain purposes) and replaced the provincial arms with the royal arms of Canada. The red ensign was replaced by the current red and white maple-leaf flag in 1965. In that same year, the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba adopted red ensigns defaced by their provincial arms as their provincial flags.

5 Sources

Flags and flag etiquette. In Fowler, Jean (Ed.): Reed's Nautical Almanac 1992, pp. 13:1-13:8. East Molesey: Thomas Reed Publications. BooksEnthsiast.com

6 See also

7 External links

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