White Ensign

The White Ensign.

The White Ensign (correctly the St. George's Ensign) consists of a red St George's Cross on a white field with the Union Flag in the upper canton. It was most famously flown by Horatio Nelson at Trafalgar, and, in 1864, became the sole ensign of the Royal Navy, displacing the Red Ensign and the Blue Ensign. Prior to that date, the ensign flown was that of the senior officer present, depending on whether he was an admiral of the white, the red or the blue.

The ensign is flown on Royal Navy ships and at land bases operated by the navy, though use of the ensign on land is generally discouraged. It is also flown by the Royal Yacht Squadron and ships escorting the Queen.

The White Ensign is also used by some football supporters who write the name of their club along the horizontal arm of St. George's cross. As the White Ensign can only be used with the permission of the Royal Navy, the flying of the ensign by football fans is technically illegal. To mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, restrictions on the use of the flag were temporarily lifted in October 2005.

The flag of the British Antarctic Territory.

A White Ensign (without the St. George's Cross) is used with defacement as the flag of the British Antarctic Territory. This ensign is defaced in the fly with the coat of arms of the territory.

Commonwealth usage

The White Ensign was also used in its unaltered form by the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy, with the Blue Ensign of each of these Dominions (as they were then known) as a jack.

However, in 1965, with the adoption of the Canadian Flag, Canada stopped using the White Ensign on its naval vessels in favour of the new flag. In 1968, the Royal Canadian Navy was incorporated into the unified Canadian Forces and the new Canadian Forces Maritime Command adopted a distinctive White Ensign incorporating the Canadian Flag in the canton and the badge of Maritime Command in the fly. This flag, however, is used not as the ensign but as the jack and also as the basis of the Queen's colour of Maritime Command. Many Canadian veterans' organisations still use the White and Blue Ensigns unofficially as symbols of history and heritage.

During their involvement in Vietnam, the Royal Australian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy modified the White Ensign so as to avoid confusion that British vessels were involved in the conflict. The modified RAN and RNZN White Ensigns still incorporate the Union Jack in the canton, but with the Southern Cross designs from each national flag (blue stars for the RAN and red stars for the RNZN) replacing the St. George's Cross.

See also

• British ensigns
• Maritime flags
• Royal Canadian Navy
• Royal Australian Navy Ensign
• Royal New Zealand Navy
• Canadian Forces Maritime Command

External links

• United Kingdom:White Ensign from flagspot.net