Whereas most other nationalities merely fly their national flag, we have made it much more complicated than that!

In fact, we civilian sailors are not allowed to fly the Union Flag on it’s own, only the British navy can do that and then only in harbour and only from the Jack Staff at the stem of the ship.

Only then can it be known as the Union Jack, ashore it should be referred to as the Union Flag.

Basically there are three different types of British Ensign.

Firstly the white ensign which can only be worn by the British Navy and members of our premier yacht club, The Royal Yacht Squadron.

Secondly the blue ensign which can only be worn by members of a few yacht clubs, the Royal Cruising Club, The Cruising Association and a few other organisations. Both white and blue ensigns can only be worn providing the individual has a warrant from the Queen to do so. The rest of us should wear on our vessels a red ensign. There are some yacht clubs and organisations who qualify to wear a blue ensign and are allowed to have a defaced ensign (this means that they can have an emblem on the blue part to show which organisation they belong to). There are also some organisations whose members wear a red ensign and who are allowed to include an emblem on the red part of the ensign. Both of these categories must have a warrant from the Queen to use a ‘defaced’ ensign.

Thirdly the red ensign, which is worn by the merchant navy and the rest of us private sailors and motor cruisers.

All three types of ensign should show the Union Flag in the first Canton at the hoist (top right hand corner of the flag from a position standing on the starboard quarter of your vessel).

Regarding times when the ensign should be worn.  Firstly, the owner should be in the immediate vicinity of the vessel (A trip to the local supermarket is fine, whereas if you visit the next town by car then the ensign should be taken down). In the winter (November 1 to February 14) our ensigns should be raised at 9am and taken down at sunset. In the summer (February 15 to October 31) they should be raised at 8am and taken down at sunset or 9pm, whichever occurs first.

A vessel at sea is normally expected to leave it’s ensign up during the night, however the rules do state that we may take our ensign down at night, or when sailing out of site of land during the day, but we must replace them when in site of other vessels.

Yacht clubs encourage their members to fly a burgee, on which there will be a pattern or emblem specific to that club. Burgees are triangular in shape and normally not bigger than about 18 inches long. The burgee can be worn night and day, but only when the owner is either on board, or in the immediate vicinity. Burgees should be worn at the masthead, however some yacht clubs allow their members to fly them from the cross trees so that they don’t interfere with navigational equipment at the top of the mast.

Courtesy ensigns are ensigns of the country that you are visiting and should be worn on a flag halyard beneath the starboard cross trees. Most chandlerys sell small local ensigns exactly for this purpose. It is considered correct to fly such an ensign night and day and even when you are not in the immediate vicinity of the vessel. The reason for flying a courtesy ensign is to show that you recognise that you are within the jurisdiction of the country whose waters in which you are sailing.

Ensign dipping (lowering and raising as a salute to a naval vessel) is something that I always do to British naval vessels as they go past. The correct procedure is to lower your ensign on its staff and leave it there until the naval vessel lowers and raises hers in acknowledgement of your salute, you may then raise yours to it’s normal position on it’s staff. The reality of the situation on board a yacht of less than about seventy feet in length is that the ensign staff is not long enough to achieve this effectively, I therefore normally unship the staff and hold it horizontally as a salute.

I recently sailed past a Portuguese naval vessel at anchor and in addition to my salute being returned very smartly, every single sailor on her deck waved at us by way of appreciation. The mutual feeling of respect and friendship was well worth the small effort involved in ‘dipping our ensign’.

The majority of people do not observe these customs and the common practice now seems to be to put the ensign up at the beginning of the season and then take it down at then end.

The original reason for the British navy taking their ensigns down at sunset and putting them back up again in the morning was that the Admiralty wanted to try to cut down on their expenditure on flags and it was felt that, as the ensign could not be seen in the dark, there wasn’t much point in having it up and therefore they would last much longer if taken down for the night. I do try to observe the ‘rules’ concerning ensigns and as a result my ensigns last longer!

It has became more and more common to see ships hoisting what could be called a European civil ensign, made of the European Union flag with the national flag of one of the member countries in canton. These civil ensigns have no official status and should not replace the national civil ensign.
 
The European civil ensign must not be used alone on any ship of any nationality. It can be used for decoration, but it is not advisable to substitute it for the ensign.
An ensign of a ship not only shows the nationality, but also shows where the ship is insured. If the owner replaces the ensign by a ‘European Ensign' he will loose all insurance for his vessel.

Rejected proposal of an European civil ensign
A motion, tabled recently in a committee of the European Parliament, states that the ensign of vessels of the member countries should be the national flag defaced with a European emblem. The report went before the whole Parliament in January 2004 when some Members of the European Parliament hoped that the amendments would be defeated. It is in any case possible that any such proposal might have contravened the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea - Article 92. Status of ships, which is as follows.

1. Ships shall sail under the flag of one State only and, save in exceptional cases expressly provided for in international treaties or in this Convention, shall be subject to its exclusive jurisdiction on the high seas. A ship may not change its flag during a voyage or while in a port of call, save in the case of a real transfer of ownership or change of registry.

2. A ship which sails under the flags of two or more States, using them according to convenience, may not claim any of the nationalities in question with respect to any other State, and may be assimilated to a ship without nationality.

The European Parliament has voted against this proposal, any ships national ensign that is defaced with a European emblem is therefore still illegal.