 | |
| Other names | Red Ensign,Red Duster |
|---|---|
| Use | Civil ensign |
| Proportion | 1:2 |
| Adopted | British Merchant Navy |
| Design | A red field with theUnion Flag in the canton |
| Blue Ensign | |
 | |
| Use | State ensign |
| Proportion | 1:2 |
| Adopted | HM Government |
| Design | A blue field with theUnion Flag in the canton |
| White Ensign | |
 | |
| Use | Naval ensign |
| Proportion | 1:2 |
| Adopted | The Royal Navy |
| Design | A white field defaced withSaint George's Cross and theUnion Flag in thecanton |
| RAF Ensign | |
 | |
| Proportion | 1:2 |
| Adopted | TheRoyal Air Force |
| Design | Asky blue field with theUnion Flag in the canton and theRAF Roundel in the fly |
In Britishmaritime law and custom, an ensign is the identifyingflag flown to designate a British ship, either military or civilian. Such flags display the United KingdomUnion Jack in thecanton (the upper corner next to the staff), with either a red, white, or blue field, dependent on whether the vessel is civilian, naval, or in a special category. These are known as thered,white, andblue ensigns respectively.
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 bedefaced by the addition of a badge or symbol, for example the sky blue with concentric red, white and blue circles of theRoyal Air Force ensign.
TheUnion Flag (also known as theUnion Jack) should be flown as ajack by Royal Navy ships only when moored or at anchor. If flown while underway, the ship must be dressed for a special occasion or celebration with masthead ensigns, otherwise it signals that themonarch or anAdmiral of the Fleet is on board. The Union Flag may also signal that acourt martial is in progress.
The use of the Union Flag as an ensign on a civilian craft is still illegal, unless it has a white border,[1] ever sinceCharles I ordered it be restricted to His Majesty's ships "upon pain of Our high displeasure"[This quote needs a citation] 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.
British ensigns currently in use can be classified into five categories, in descending order of exclusivity:
The traditional order of seniority was red, white, and blue, with the red as the senior ensign.
TheRed Ensign (red field with the Union Flag in the canton) defaced by a badge is flown byTrinity 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 Britishmerchant navy ships and private craft. TheRed Ensign is the correct flag to be worn ascourtesy flag by foreign private vessels in United Kingdom waters. Merchant vessels fromBritish overseas territories andCrown dependencies are entitled to red ensigns defaced with the badge of their territory.
TheBlue 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 theRoyal Naval Reserve and the maritime reserve forces of otherCommonwealth 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.
British government departments use a variety of blue ensignsdefaced in thefly with the department badge, andcolonial governments use blue ensigns defaced with the colonial badge.
The Ensign of theSea Cadet Corps is a blue ensign defaced by the SCC badge. Under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding with theMinistry 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).
Other defaced ensigns were used by vessels of the Port of London Authority,Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, the Humber Conservancy, theCustom House, theBoard of Trade,Lloyd's of London, thePost Office,submarine cable laying ships, and other departments includingWar OfficeOrdnance. Theflag of Australia and those of its states, theflag of New Zealand, as well as a number ofoverseas self-governing territories of the UK are defaced blue ensigns. Several yacht clubs are also entitled to fly blue ensigns defaced by their club badge.
Today'swhite ensign, as used byRoyal Navy ships, incorporates theSt George's Cross (St George's Ensign). British yachts owned by members of theRoyal Yacht Squadron are authorised to apply for a permit to wear this ensign. Defaced white ensigns include that of theBritish Antarctic Territory.
Since the reorganisation of the Royal Navy in 1864, use of theWhite Ensign (a redSt George's Cross on a white field with the Union Flag in thecanton) has been restricted to ships, boats, submarines and on-shore establishments of theRoyal Navy. TheRoyal Yacht Squadron also fly the white ensign by special dispensation.
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The flag of theBritish East India Company, like the Cambridge orContinental Union Flag of theAmerican 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. Similarly in flag plates from the 17th and 18th centuries there are representations of the Guinea Jack of theRoyal Africa Company in various forms; the jack consisted of St George's Cross within a double border of red and white chequers. Theflag of Hawaii is a British ensign with a background of white, red and blue stripes.
Also in existence is aRoyal Air Force (RAF) ensign and acivil air ensign, both of which have a sky-blue field, with the Union Flag in the canton. TheRAF Ensign is defaced with the red-white-blueRAF roundel, while the field of the civil air ensign is charged with a large dark-blue cross fimbriated white. DuringWorld War II, theBelgian section of the RAF used a variant of RAF Ensign defaced with the black-yellow-red roundel.[3] Theflag of Tuvalu andthat of Fiji are also defaced sky blue ensigns.
The white ensign of the commissioner of theNorthern Lighthouse Board is unique in that it remains one of the only examples of a pre-1801Union Flag in official use today.[4] This flag is flown only from vessels with commissioners aboard.
There are two "yellow" ensigns in use in theSouth Pacific, both featuring theSouthern Cross. The personal flag of thegovernor of Victoria, Australia, has been theflag of Victoria with a yellow instead of a dark blue background. Theflag of Niue, a self-governing dependency of New Zealand, is also ayellow ensign. More unusually, it is the Union Flag canton rather than the fly which is defaced with a modified Southern Cross.
There is some evidence of the existence of aGreen 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 theBritish Antarctic Territory has a white field defaced with the territory's badge, while theBritish Indian Ocean Territory flag has a white and blue wavy-striped field, also defaced.
Finally, there is one "orange" ensign, used by theOrange Order in Canada. This flag is an orange ensign defaced with a white shield, and a red maple leaf within it.
The Cornish Ensign orSt Piran's Ensign, is aCornish flag with theUnion Flag in the canton. This flag is used widely among Cornish mariners.[citation needed] Often flown by leisure craft and occasionally flown by Cornish merchant vessels.[citation needed]
First flown in 2003 the Devon Regatta Ensign adds aUnion Flag into the canton of theDevon Flag – the flag is described as for use at regattas, high days and holidays, weddings and burials at sea.[5][6]
This flag can also be referred to as theSt 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]
The golden ensign, also referred to as the yellow ensign, is only seen in one state or regional level flag, the flag ofNiue, an island country under free-association withNew Zealand, is a notable example using a golden ensign. The golden ensign can also be seen in the standard of theGovernor of Victoria.[citation needed]
Theflag of Niue is the most popular example of the Golden Ensign, reflecting the nations heritage to theBritish monarchy and the islands culture and history.[7]
The colours used in most British ensigns are the colours of the Union Flag; Union Jack (royal) blue, Union Flag red and white:[8]
| Scheme | Blue | Red | White |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pantone (paper) | 280 C[9] | 186 C[10] | 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 |
AllHEX,CMYK andRGB specifications for thePantone 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 is the only independent school in the United Kingdom to have been continuously awarded the "Queens Banner" and its own distinctive school ensign.
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 byAdmiral Robert Blake. Each squadron flew one of the three ensigns. In addition to theAdmiral of the Fleet (who was Admiral of the Red), each squadron had its own admirals, vice admirals and rear admirals, e.g.Lord Nelson was Vice Admiral of the White at the time of his death.
The red squadron tended to patrol theCaribbean and north Atlantic, the white the coasts of Britain, France and the Mediterranean, while the blue patrolled the south Atlantic, Pacific andIndian oceans. The flags of the various former British colonies often have backgrounds of the same colour as their protective squadron. HenceBermuda has a red ground and Australia and New Zealand blue. Canada's flag was a red ensign from founding until the adoption of themaple leaf flag in 1965.
Theflag of the United States also follows this pattern; early flags of theAmerican Revolution were modified Red Ensigns. TheContinental Union Flag added six white stripes to the Red Ensign; this flag was used during the fight for independence until theUnion Jack 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'.[11]
In 1868, theBritish Admiralty made theCanadian 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 aRed Ensign with the arms of its provinces on one shield as its national flag (theCanadian Red Ensign). In 1924, anorder-in-council made the flag official (for certain purposes) and replaced the provincial arms with theroyal arms of Canada. The red ensign was replaced by the current red and whitemaple-leaf flag in 1965. In that same year, the provinces ofOntario andManitoba adopted red ensigns defaced by their provincial arms as their provincial flags. (seeFlag of Ontario andFlag of Manitoba)
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Media related toEnsigns of the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons
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