White Ensign
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Image:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg Image:British-White-Ensign-1707.svg Image:British-White-Ensign-1620.svg 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. The ensign is flown on Royal Navy ships and at land bases operated by the navy. It is also flown by the Royal Yacht Squadron and ships escorting the Queen.
Image:Flag of the British Antarctic Territory.png Image:Northern Lighthouse Board Commisioners Flag of the United Kingdom.png 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.
A White Ensign, without the St. George's Cross, defaced with a blue lighthouse in the fly, is the Commissioners' flag of the Northern Lighthouse Board. This flag is unique as it uses a pre-1801 Union Flag in the canton.
[edit] History
The first recognisable White Ensign appears to have been in use during the 16th century, consisting of a white field with a broad St. George's cross, and a second St. George's cross in the canton. By 1630 the white ensign consisted of simply a white field, with a small St. George's cross in the canton, which was consistent with the red and blue ensigns of the time. In 1707, the St. George's cross was reintroduced to the flag as a whole, though not as broad as before, and the Union Flag was placed in the canton. There was also a version of this flag without the overall St. George's cross, which appears to have been for use in home waters only, though this flag appears to have fallen out of use by 1720. In 1801, after the Act of Union 1800, the flag was updated to include the new Union Flag in the canton, and so took on the form as used today. The blue field of the Union Flag was darkened at this time at the request of the Admiralty, in the hope that the new flags would not require replacing as often as the previous design, due to fading of the blue. Throughout this period, the proportions of the flags changed. In 1687, the then Secretary of the Admiralty, Samuel Pepys, instructed that flags be of the ratio 11:18 (18 inches long for each breadth, 11 inches at the time). In the early 18th century, the breadth of cloth had been reduced to 10 inches, so the flags became 5:9. In 1837, the breadth was reduced for the final time to 9 inches, giving the current ratio of 1:2.
Throughout this period, the Royal Navy used the White Ensign in conjunction with the Red and Blue, due to the rank structure employed at the time. Each grade of admiral (rear-, vice- and full) was sub-divided into levels of seniority: red, white, and blue. Ships attached to an admiral's squadron would then fly the ensign appropriate to that particular admiral.
In 1864 the Admiralty decided to end the ambiguity caused by the Red Ensign being both a civil ensign and a naval ensign, and the White Ensign became the sole ensign of the Royal Navy.
[edit] Commonwealth usage
The White Ensign was historically used, in its unaltered form, by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), 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 RCN 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 RAN and RNZN modified the White Ensign so as to avoid confusion with British vessels, which not involved in the conflict. The modified RAN and RNZN White Ensigns still incorporate the Union Flag 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.
Several other Commonwealth navies also use naval ensigns with a visual connection to the White Ensign. For example the Indian Navy and the South African Navy both have both retained a cross on a white field, with their own national flag in the canton, in place of the Union Flag.
[edit] Use by football clubs' supporters
The White Ensign is also used by some football supporters, who write the name of their football club along the horizontal arm of the St. George's cross. This is technically illegal, as the White Ensign can only be used with the permission of the Royal Navy. To mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, restrictions on the use of the flag were temporarily lifted in October 2005.
