Flags
FLAGGED UP F
Malcolm McKeag, Head of Flag Police offers some advice
luttering prettily in the breeze, whipping majestically at the gaff end or draping languidly over the taffrail our fl ags have a unique ability to decorate, inform – and infuriate, all at the
same time. Decorate merely by their appearance (they are nice, are they not?); inform because that is their primary reason for being – and infuriate because get it wrong and there will always be somebody whose blood pressure will not settle back to normal until the offending bunting has been removed and the offender drummed from the parade ground. The fl ags we use on our boats fall into three broad categories: ensigns, burgees and house fl ags. All exist to enable us to make a statement about ourselves and our boat – and to enable others to read and understand that statement. The ensign is the big, national fl ag we display – usually but not always at the stern – to signal our and our ship’s nationality; the burgee is the (usually triangular) fl ag we fl y – usually but not always at the masthead – to signal the club to which we belong and the house fl ags are all those others fl ags and banners we fl y from elsewhere on the boat to do everything from make a play on the boat’s name to tell the world we support the RNLI. Traditionally, by the way, the boat is said to wear her ensign – all
other fl ags are fl own by the owner and crew.. Most of the so-called rules surrounding what fl ags we fl y and wear are in fact simply tradition trimmed with what used to be called in more proper times etiquette and laced with a healthy shot of snobbery – but there is some law. The law, specifi cally, is The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (
http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content. aspx?activeTextDocId=2359224) and lays down both what we must do about fl ags, and what we must not. So let us get that out of the way, fi rst.
By law we must: Wear the British ensign (of which more in a moment) when in a foreign port (that, in fact, is also part of International law); when entering or leaving a British port if the boat is more than 50 tons gross or over 24 metres in length; or on being commanded to by a British warship (which for our purposes is fairly unlikely).
By law we must not Wear (or fl y, or display, or exhibit, or whatever other word you wish to use) any distinctive national colours except the red ensign, the Union fl ag (commonly known as the Union Jack) with a white border (so not, please note, the Union fl ag itself – that is reserved strictly for use ashore); any colours usually worn by Her Majesty’s ships or resembling those of Her Majesty, the pendant usually carried by Her Majesty’s ships or any pendant resembling it; a British ensign that is not the red ensign unless we have specifi c permission, in writing and carried aboard the vessel, to wear a different British ensign (e.g. a Blue ensign); any fl ag that could be confused with any of the above – so strictly speaking fl ags
50 cywinter 2011
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