flag etiquette, also called yacht routine in the USA, is concerned with what flags,
burgees, and
ensigns should be hoisted while afloat, and where they should be flown, or worn, in order to obey national laws, or customs. Flags send important information about the vessels that fly them. Also, people have an emotional attachment to their national flags. If they are incorrectly displayed it can cause offence, and breaks the laws of some maritime nations. For example, it is illegal for a civilian vessel to fly the flag of St George; the European Union flag with a vessel's national flag at its
hoist has no status; and it is wrong for a powerboat to have the Union flag painted on its side, though the appropriate ensign is permitted.
All vessels, whether warships, commercial vessels, or pleasure craft, are entitled to fly the maritime ensign of the country to which the vessel belongs, though many merchant ships fly
flags of convenience. In the UK, the use of ensigns aboard merchant ships is regulated by various Merchant Shipping Acts. The USA is particularly strict about its national flag, the Stars and Stripes, which is derived from the British
East India Company flag, and the national flag is also the ensign of the US merchant fleet and the US Navy. Its use is controlled by Congress which also controls the flags and burgees for flag officers of American
yacht clubs, fleet captains, and
US Power Squadrons. All US pleasure craft, power or sail, fly the US yacht ensign, but only in US
territorial waters. Elsewhere, the US Stars and Stripes ensign must be flown. Unlike British and Commonwealth yacht clubs, US yacht clubs do not have individual ensigns. American yachtsmen are more punctilious about flag etiquette than their counterparts in Europe.
Any UK vessel of any type is entitled to fly the
red ensign, but a warrant has to be issued by the authorities before a defaced red or
blue ensign can be flown. A vessel's ensign must be hoisted: when requested by any British warship, on entering or leaving a foreign port, and on entering or leaving a British port if the vessel is over 50 tonnes gross. It is illegal for any ship, or
yacht, to fly an ensign to which it is not entitled.
The Union flag is only flown by British warships, and then only on their
jackstaffs in harbour or at anchor. It is then, and only then, properly called the Union
jack. However, other vessels may fly the pilot jack, the Union flag with a white border, at their jackstaffs when in harbour or anchored, and may also fly a house flag or something similar there, though this does not make it a jack. The Union jack flown by US warships is a blue flag with 50 white stars. It is only flown on certain occasions and only if the Stars and Stripes ensign is flown at the stern at the same time. Flying the Union flag upside down, particularly in Canada, UK, and USA, is traditionally a
distress signal, though not an official one.
An ensign is normally flown from an ensign staff on the stern, but a
gaff-rigged yacht can fly it from the
peak of its mainsail, or
mizzen sail if it is a
ketch or
yawl, and many
Bermudan-rigged yachts fly theirs from the
backstay or on the
leech of the mainsail. Wherever they are flown at sea, ensigns should only be flown from the stern when in harbour. The masthead is reserved for the club burgee or, in the case of merchant shipping, the house flag. Courtesy flags—the maritime ensign of the country a vessel is visiting—are flown from a
yard or
spreaders, as are signal flags and owners' flags. Occasionally, the club burgee is, too, though some clubs expressly forbid this. Some also forbid an owner to wear his flag at the same time as their burgee. If a powerboat has no mast, its club burgee can be worn from the jackstaff. Only one club burgee should be worn at any one time.
Burgees, house flags, owners' flags, and courtesy flags normally remain hoisted in harbour until it is no longer appropriate for them to be worn, though some yacht clubs require burgees to be hoisted and lowered with the ensign. Once at sea any courtesy flag is struck but the club burgee remains hoisted. It is quite usual to strike the ensign at sea, too, but it has to be raised if the crew wish to make their nationality known to another ship or to salute a warship. This is done by dipping the ensign about two-thirds of the way down the staff. It is raised again only after the ship being saluted dips its ensign in acknowledgement and then raises it. Only an ensign is used for
salutes at sea, and it is the only one flown at half-mast to mark a death.
Flags flown in harbour must be hoisted in order of seniority. For example, the courtesy flag of a country being visited takes precedence over a club burgee or owner's flag. The most senior, or most important, flag is hoisted close up on the
starboard spreader. The next senior is hoisted close up on the
port spreader; the third senior is hoisted below the top flag on the starboard spreader; and the fourth senior below the top flag on the port spreader. Where there is an inner
halyard, the outer one takes precedence.
In the USA, yachts fly special flags in harbour. For instance, in the port rigging, a dark blue rectangular one indicates the owner is temporarily absent; a dark blue rectangular one, intersected with a white stripe running diagonally upwards from the bottom corner of the
hoist, indicates that a guest is aboard; and a white rectangular one indicates that the owner is eating and visitors are therefore not welcome. Unofficial, light-hearted flags are also sometimes flown. A popular one has a white wine glass on a green background, known as the gin
pennant, which is often hoisted as an invitation for other yachtsmen to come aboard for a drink.
Some racing yachts have a battle flag to show their competitors they mean business, and all wear special racing flags when racing (see also
racing rules). Flags belonging to the
International Code of Signals take on a different meaning when they are used by race organizers to communicate with competitors, and they are also used to
dress ship.
Bibliography
Johnson, P. , Reed's Maritime Flags: Usage and Recognition (2002).
