Facts A Dressing overall.
t times of celebration one of the happier traditions
of fl ag waving is to ‘dress overall’, which essentially means hanging out all the fl ags you own to demonstrate to the world that you are in a partying frame of mind. Like so much else there are no laws but quite a few traditions.
Above: HMS Victory at Trafalgar. She wore a White Ensign, which thereafter became the fl ag of the Royal Navy. She fl ew Nelson’s plain white pennant with a red cross, his rank fl ag as Admiral of the White above two signal fl ags making Signal 16: ‘Engage the enemy more closely’. Below: Yacht of Royal Thames member Charles Hudleston correctly wearing the Blue Ensign and fl ying RTYC burgee from the masthead above the Turkish courtesy fl ag (see detail over page)
‘Dressing ship’ involves stringing all your fl ags together and then hoisting them so that the long joined-up line goes from one end of the craft to the other via the highest points along the way: i.e. the top (or tops if you have more than one) of the mast. The clever way to do this is not simply to hook one fl ag to the next in line via the boltrope of the fl ag itself – because if just one fl ag’s boltrope breaks, the entire string breaks and both ends fall into the water. Better it is to use a long piece of heavier line and fi x each fl ag to that.
One popular myth is that there is a ‘proper’ order in which the fl ags should be strung together – but it is just that. A myth. For uniformity some organisations do issue guidance to their members but there are many variations on the theme.
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