British ensign
Union Flag in the canton . | |
Union Flag in the canton. | |
Union Flag in the canton. | |
RAF Roundel in the fly |
In British
Outside the nautical sphere, ensigns are used to designate many other military units, government departments and administrative divisions. These flags are modelled on the red, white, and blue naval ensigns, but may use different colours for the field, and be defaced by the addition of a badge or symbol, for example the sky blue with concentric red, white and blue circles of the Royal Air Force ensign.
The
The use of the Union Flag as an ensign on a civilian craft is still illegal, unless it has a white border,[1] ever since Charles I ordered it be restricted to His Majesty's ships "upon pain of Our high displeasure" in the 17th century, mainly due to its unauthorised use by merchant mariners to avoid paying harbour duties by passing themselves off as Royal vessels.
Modern usage
British ensigns currently in use can be classified into five categories, in descending order of exclusivity:
- the White Ensign
- the Blue Ensign
- the Blue Ensign defaced
- the Red Ensign
- the Red Ensign defaced
The traditional order of seniority was red, white and blue, with the red as the senior ensign.
White
Today's
Since the reorganisation of the Royal Navy in 1864, use of the
Blue
The Blue Ensign (dark blue field with the Union Flag in the canton) undefaced is worn by masters of vessels in possession of a warrant issued by the Director of Naval Reserves, and by the members of certain yacht clubs. Such warrants are issued to officers in the active or retired lists of the Royal Naval Reserve and the maritime reserve forces of other Commonwealth realms and territories. The master must be of the rank of lieutenant RN or above, and fishing vessels must be crewed by at least four other Royal Naval reservists or pensioners. The Ensign of the Sea Cadet Corps is a blue ensign defaced by the SCC badge. Under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Defence,[2] officers of the Sea Cadet Corps hold their ranks as (SCC) RNR on a 'nominal honorific' basis, and are included on the Navy List as a courtesy (though they are not commissioned, but 'appointed' within the Corps).
Defaced
British government departments use a variety of blue ensigns
Red
The Red Ensign (red field with the Union Flag in the canton) defaced by a badge is flown by Trinity House and various organisations and yacht clubs. Merchant ships and private vessels registered in British territories and dependencies, and in several Commonwealth realms, fly the Red Ensign defaced by the badge of their territory.
The Red Ensign undefaced is for the use of all other British
Other ensigns
-
TheBritish Civil Air Ensign.
-
Ensign of the Air Training Corps.
-
Ensign of the Royal Observer Corps.
-
Ensign of the Northern Lighthouse Board.
-
Commissioner's Ensign of the Northern Lighthouse Board.
-
Ensign of theSea Cadet Corps.
The flag of the
Also in existence is a
The white ensign of the commissioner of the
There are two "yellow" ensigns in use in the
There is some evidence of the existence of a Green Ensign in British Ireland, defaced with a gold Irish harp in the fly. It is not clear to what extent this unofficial ensign was ever in use by Irish merchant ships at the time.
The flag 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.
Finally, there is one "orange" ensign, used by the Orange Order in Canada. This flag is an orange ensign defaced with a white shield, and a red maple leaf within it.
Cornish Ensign
The Cornish Ensign or
Devon Ensign
First flown in 2003 the Devon Regatta Ensign adds a
This flag can also be referred to as the St Petroc's Ensign, due to its link with the saint. This flag is widely used among Devonian mariners.[citation needed] Often flown by leisure craft.[citation needed]
Colours
The colours used in most British ensigns are the colours of the Union Flag; Union Jack (royal) blue, Union Flag red and white:[7]
Scheme | Blue[8] | Red[9] | White |
---|---|---|---|
Pantone (paper) | 280 C | 186 C | Safe |
HEX | #012169 | #C8102E | #FFFFFF |
MoD | 8711D | 8711 | 8711J |
NSN | 8305.99.130.4580 | 8305.99.130.4584 | 8305.99.130.4585 |
CMYK | 100.85.5.22 | 2.100.85.6 | 0.0.0.0 |
RGB | 1, 33, 105 | 200, 16, 46 | 255, 255, 255 |
All HEX, CMYK and RGB specifications for the Pantone colours are taken from the official Pantone website on the webpages of the corresponding colours. Although the colour schemes are official, not all of the colours are completely congruent. This is due to different specifications for different types of media (for example, screen and print).
The Royal Hospital School
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
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. Canada's flag was a red ensign from founding until the adoption of the maple leaf flag in 1965.
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; this flag was used during the fight for independence until the Union Flag in the canton was replaced by the stars in 1777.
Reference was sometimes made to "the yellow squadron". This squadron did not actually exist but was a term used unofficially to describe those naval personnel who worked ashore or did not have a ship. Therefore, there was no 'Yellow ensign'.[10]
Canadian ensigns
In 1868, the
From about 1870, Canada unofficially used a
Gallery
-
British Civil Air Ensign in use at Hunsdon Airfield.
-
Civil Ensign flanking the Union Jack.
-
Admiralty Arch is customarily decorated with White Ensigns on state occasions.
-
Commissioners' Flag, flown outside the Northern Lighthouse Board HQ in Edinburgh.
See also
- Blue Ensign
- Red Ensign
- Green Ensign
- Historical flags of the British Empire and the overseas territories
- Lists of flags
- Maritime flag
- Jack (flag)
- Union Flag
- Flags based on British ensigns
- Flag of Australia
- Flag of Canada
- Flag of New Zealand
- Flag of Tuvalu
- List of Canadian provincial and territorial symbols
References
- ^ "Merchant Shipping Act 1995, section 4". Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Belgium: Air Force flags". Flags of the World. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- ^ "Northern Lighthouse Commissioner's Flag". Flags of the World. Archived from the original on 24 October 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ^ "Flags of Empire: Ensigns of the Home Nations and Europe". Flags of Empire. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- ^ "Devon (England)". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- ^ United Kingdom at Flags of the World. Retrieved on 2008-06-10.
- ^ PANTONE. "PANTONE 280 C - find a PANTONE Color". www.pantone.com. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- ^ PANTONE. "PANTONE 186 C - find a PANTONE Color". www.pantone.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- ^ Promotion in the Flag Ranks in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars
Sources
- Flags and flag etiquette. In Fowler, Jean (Ed.): Reed's Nautical Almanac 1992, pp. 13:1–13:8. East Molesey: Thomas Reed Publications. ISBN 0-947637-96-6
External links
Media related to Ensigns of the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons