Anensign is amaritime flag that is used for the national identification of aship.[1] It is the largest flag and is generally flown at thestern (rear) of the ship while in port. Depending on the ship's origin, it may sometimes be identical with ajack on thebow of the ship when in a port. Jacks are more common onwarships than onmerchant ships.
TheMiddle Englishensign is derived from the Latin wordinsignia.
Vexillologists distinguish between three varieties of ensigns:
) is worn by government vessels of official government agencies or civilian equippedauxiliary ships.
) is worn by a country'snavy as awar flag for military ships.[2] The term "war flag" is used irrespective of if a given country is at war. Large versions of naval ensigns calledbattle ensigns are used when a warship goes into battle. The ensign differs from thejack, which is additionally flown from ajackstaff at the bow of a vessel if they are at the port.
) is worn by merchant and pleasure vessels. The merchant maritime flag or civil ensign is, therefore, the specific flag for theMerchant navy of a country, unless the (private) owners are authorized to use another. The commercial flag was created to allow these private individuals to declare their nationality. Some countries have a specificyacht ensign for recreational boats without declared cargo, which differs from the regular ensign. Merchant flags can only be flown by ships that are not ships of war, ships of state, auxiliary ships or yachts. These ships do not represent an extraterritorial area, but rather belong to a private person or similar and thus do not represent the state itself. This means that the use of the national or even state flag is normally forbidden.Some countries like theUnited States andFrance use just one flag as an ensign and also as ajack, while lacking specialcantons and transparent identification. All ships of the seagoing services of theUnited States Government except for theUnited States Coast Guard fly the national flag as their ensign, although the ships of some agencies also fly an agency flag as adistinctive mark.
Countries likeUkraine,Italy,Russia,South Africa,Australia,New Zealand andJapan use different ensigns. These are strictly regulated and indicate if the vessel is awarship, amerchant ship, aship under contract to carry mail, or ayacht, for example.
The national flags of severalCommonwealth countries originated in the ensigns of the United Kingdom. Some of these national flags include those of Australia, New Zealand and several island nations. It is also very likely[citation needed] that theContinental Union Flag, from which theflag of the United States developed, was strongly influenced by either the BritishRed Ensign or the flag of the BritishEast India Company.
In nautical use, every boat uses a flag belonging to a specific Nation to indicate its organizational membership.[3] This flag signifies the home port of the ship owner and thattaxes for ship-related income are paid there. Flagging out always means that the relevant laws of the country apply on the ship. This includes employment contracts, safety regulations, stamp duty orvalue-added taxes.[citation needed]
In most countries, especially in Europe and the countries of theCommonwealth of Nations, it is common for the ensign to display additional information, like whether it is a civil, state or military flag.[citation needed]
Ensigns are usually at thesternflagstaff when in port, and may be shifted to agaff (if available) or mast amidships when the ship is under way, becoming known as asteaming ensign.[citation needed]
A boat flag is also often used as guest country flag and is flown on the boat when navigating in foreign waters or entering another country's port.[citation needed]
With the creation of independentair forces and the growth incivil aviation in the first half of the 20th century, a range of distinguishing flags and ensigns were adopted. These may be divided intoair force ensigns (often light blue in color,[4] such as theRoyal Air Force Ensign) andcivil air ensigns.
Inheraldry, an ensign is an ornament or sign, such as the crown, coronet, or mitre, borne above thecharge orarms.[5]
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