Signals and courtesy ensigns


The only signal flag flown regularly by most yachts today is the ‘Q’ flag which indicates arrival from outside the EU. It is a ‘request for pratique’ or, to use more modern language, a statement that the yacht has not yet cleared customs and immigration. Like all signals, this one is flown from the starboard cross-trees on a sailing yacht or from the starboard halyard on a motor yacht’s mast. Also on this halyard is any courtesy ensign. Yachts visiting foreign ports have traditionally worn a small version of the country’s ensign as a courtesy to their host. This should be flown superior to any other signals. It is not technically a legal requirement, but to omit to display a courtesy ensign is, as you might expect, blatantly discourteous. The officials of certain countries have been known to harass those who fail in this duty of politeness.


Signal flags and courtesy ensigns


• In harbour, the ensign is hoisted at 0800 local time, or at 0900 in the winter months (between 1st November and 14th February inclusive). It is lowered at sunset or 2100 if this is earlier. If a Naval vessel is present, follow her lead.


Club burgees and associated ensign duties All yacht and sailing clubs have their own burgees. A burgee is a triangular pennant worn at the masthead on a ‘burgee stick’ that allows it to swivel with the wind. With the proliferation of wind instruments the practice of mastheading the burgee has fallen away somewhat, but certain senior clubs such as the Royal Cruising Club insist. Their members seem to manage perfectly well. The idea that a burgee can just as well be flown from a halyard below the port spreaders is not really the answer. If it proves the only option, a rectangular house flag should be used here instead.


Any boat flying a defaced ensign (red or blue), or an undefaced blue, MUST wear the associated club burgee, the warrant holder should be on board or in the immediate vicinity, and the ‘permit to fly’ must be carried. The privilege goes with the person, not the boat.


Courtesy ensign


‘Q’ flag Privileged ensign and associated burgee


When not to fly the ensign


There are those who ‘nail their ensigns to the backstay and leave them there until they rot’. This is not unlawful, but it is uneconomic. In the seventeenth century, an official in the Royal Navy noticed that the bill for bunting was extortionate. He therefore directed all captains to bring in their colours at sunset and to set them at sunrise. The cost halved in a year and the institution passed into common usage. All properly run professional yachts still adhere to it, as do many others whose owners care about the traditions of the sea. Here are the ‘rules’ for any who, like the writer, may choose to follow them: • Ensigns are worn entering or leaving harbour, and at sea at any time they may be observed from another vessel or the shore of any country. When out of sight of land or shipping, displaying the ensign is at the skipper’s discretion.


134 | MANUAL OF SEAMANSHIP


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