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.
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, though it is unlikely that charges will ever be laid. To mark the 200th anniversary of the
Battle of Trafalgar, restrictions on the use of the flag were temporarily lifted in October
2005.
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.
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.
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British ensigns*
Maritime flags*
Royal Canadian Navy*
Royal Australian Navy Ensign*
Royal New Zealand Navy*
Canadian Forces Maritime Command*
United Kingdom:White Ensign from
flagspot.net
