Ensign (flag)

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This article is about the flag. For other uses, see Ensign.

National civil ensign of New Zealand flown from the stern of Hikitia

The ensign is a maritime flag that is used for the national identification of a ship.[1] The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. In ports, depending on the ship's origin, it is sometimes identical with a jack on the bow of the ship. Jacks are more common on warships than on merchant ships.

Etymology[edit]

The Middle English ensign is derived from the Latin word insignia.

Vexillology[edit]

In vexillology an ensign is differentiated between a naval ensign (war ensign) and civil ensign (merchant), which both are the original expressions of the national flag.[2]

However, in the United Kingdom, Germany and Netherlands a separation between State and Armed ships on the one hand, and unarmed and private vessels was made earlier than in other Nations, see British ensign.

Vexillologists distinguish three varieties of a national flag when used as an ensign:

  • A state ensign or government ensign (usage symbol ) is worn by government vessels of official government agencies or civilian equipped auxiliary ships.
  • A civil ensign (usage symbol ) is worn by merchant and pleasure vessels. The merchant maritime flag or civil ensign is therefor the specific flag for the Merchant navy of a country, unless the (private) owners are authorized to use another. The commercial flag was created to give these private individuals the opportunity to declare their nationality. Some countries have a specific yacht ensign for recreational boats without declared cargo, which differs from the regular ensign and have a specific law. Merchant flags can only be flown by ships that are not ships of war, ships of state, auxiliary ships or yachts. The special feature here is that a ship does not represent an extraterritorial area, but belongs to a private person or similar and does not represent the state itself. This means that the use of the national or even state flag is normally forbidden.

Today, some countries like the United States and France still use just one flag and also as a jack, while lacking special cantons and transparent identification. All ships of the seagoing services of the United States Government with the exception of the United States Coast Guard fly the national flag as their ensign, although the ships of some agencies also fly an agency flag as a 'distinctive mark'.

However, further countries like Ukraine, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Japan use different ensigns. Such are strictly regulated and indicate if the vessel is a warship, a merchant ship, a ship under contract to carry mail, or a yacht, for example.

Several Commonwealth countries' national flags had their origin in the ensigns of their original colonising power, the United Kingdom. Most notable of these national flags are those of Australia, New Zealand, and several smaller island nations. It is also very likely that the Grand Union Flag from which the flag of the United States developed was strongly influenced by the British Red Ensign or the flag of the (British controlled) East India Company.

Usage[edit]

In nautical use, any boat uses a specific flag of a specific Nation to indicate its organizational membership. The ensign is flown on a ship for that reason.[2] The flag signifies the home port of the ship owner and that his tax is paid there for his income made with the ship. Flagging out always means that the relevant laws of the country apply on the ship like employment contracts, safety, stamp duty or VATs.

In most countries, especially in Europe and the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, it is common for the ensign to display additional information as well. For example, whether it is a civil, state or military flag.

Ensigns are usually at the stern flagstaff when in port, and may be shifted to a gaff (if available) or mast amidships when the ship is under way, becoming known as a steaming ensign.

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. This flag signals that you respect the laws of the country and submit to them during your stay. It is rather an obligation to hoist the flag under the flag of the country of origin, not only a good custom in honor of the host country. The national flag is displayed on the starboard side of the ship's mast and should always be higher, but at least as high as the national flag on the pole. It is also wrong to hoist it only half. Merchant ships fly the respective merchant flag, all non-merchant-registered private ships, boats and yachts fly the national flag.

Exceptions exist in the Commonwealth of Nations. A Red Ensign may also be flown at sea by private individuals, and consequently it may then also be used as a guest country flag. That got restricted and servely punished in India and Pakistan, so that they do not use it but instead use the respective national flag. It was once the custom, that both flags are raised in the morning. This has not been preserved.

However, many folks unaware of cultural traditions, have a leased or own boat outside their country. They use it abroad. They only use the 'guest flag' to refer to their home country without having good customs in mind. This is mostly not forbidden, but eventually disliked by the local port staff as the proper certificate does not exist. However, this could be an indication for attentive outsiders that the owners are not the captains of their ship themselves, but are paying an experienced local skipper from the ports of the country their boat is registered. Thus the ship has also been inspected and the highest hanging flag is still a sign of subordination for outsiders. Normally, if you want to show something, you usually use a banner in a different position instead of a flag, which also doesn't require a certificate. The seafaring tradition also knows a small parade in the evening and morning with the flag or flag dipping, which is done with the real home flag.

Sometimes sailors lack the awareness of the rules of usage, because they automatically pay attention to it. On sailboats and sailing ships the guest country flag is affixed below the starboard spreader. On multi-masters mostly on the mainmast. Since the national flag is flown at the stern, not on a mast on sailing ships, only on a "flagpole", the guest country flag is actually always higher than the national one. On sailing boats, the national flag usually hangs aft on a stay, so theoretically you should make sure that it is not set too high. But since nobody climbs up the stay to fix it, it is actually always at the right height. If they change the pleasure craft, they have to manually set the flags to the right heights.

Air ensigns[edit]

With the creation of independent air forces and the growth in civil aviation in the first half of the 20th century, a range of distinguishing flags and ensigns were adopted. These may be divided into air force ensigns (often light blue in colour,[4] such as the Royal Air Force Ensign) and civil air ensigns.

Heraldic ensigns[edit]

In heraldry, an ensign is the ornament or sign, such as the crown, coronet, or mitre, borne above the charge or arms.[5]

Gallery[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Ensign". Oxforddictionaries.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Alfred Znamierowski. "Types of flags". The World Encyclopedia of Flags. p. 31.
  3. ^ Znamierowski. "Naval ensigns and flags". The World Encyclopedia of Flags. p. 88.
  4. ^ Znamierowski. "Air force flags". The World Encyclopedia of Flags. p. 85.
  5. ^ Snell, Melissa. "Pimbley's Dictionary of Heraldry". Archived from the original on 2014-07-11. Retrieved 2014-06-15.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ensigns.
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