Who fly's flag's?
- Thread starter Sculpin
- Start date
Foxsea
Well-Known Member
The Canadian Heritage web page states:"whenever possible, the proper place for a vessel to display the national colours is at the stern, except that when at sea, the flag may be flown from a gaff; when in harbour the flag should be hoisted at 0800 hours and lowered at sunset." (The sun never sets on the Empire.) The red ensign was replaced by the current red and white maple-leaf flag in 1965. The National Flag remains the ensign of Canadian Forces ships.
The most senior position for a flag on a vessel is reserved for the Ensign - this is worn as close to the stern of the vessel as possible and denotes the nationality of the vessel. Power boats should always fly the ensign from an ensign staff at the stern. The burgee takes the next most senior position on the vessel which is the main masthead. Only one burgee may be flown on the vessel. Members belonging to a yacht club or sailing organization may fly their club's unique burgee both while underway and at anchor. Power boats fly the burgee off a short staff on the bow. (...or on the radio mast, below a courtesy pennant? I have not found etiquette for flags flown from antenna. Pls see the following paragraph...
It is now common practice to fly the burgee at the starboard spreaders (sailing vessels), however, no other flag may be flown above the burgee on the same halyard.( or VHF antenna?) You also may not fly any other flag above a national courtesy flag on the same halyard. If you fly your burgee at the starboard spreaders and are sailing in the territorial waters of another country you have a dilemma, however you choose to solve this, unless you fly your burgee at the top of the mast you will be contravening one or another element of flag etiquette.)
A courtesy flag (or courtesy ensign) is flown by a ship in foreign waters as a token of respect by a visiting vessel. It is often a small (that is, smaller than the ship's own national ensign) national maritime flag of the host country. Conventionally, courtesy flags are flown from a staff at the bow of power boats. This seems to some landsmen as being a reversal of priorities. However, a boat is steered by the stern and this gives it pride of place.
Flag etiquette is now more casual than in days gone by but is still closely observed by warships and the merchant marine. None of the foregoing is enforced on pleasure vessels in their home waters. I find the Ensign, flying from the stern, interferes with fishing so the stern staff is reserved for cruising. I fly the Canadian flag high, on the all-around light mast only when fishing, with the bow staff used for the courtesy flag when cruising in U.S. waters; ensign flying at the stern. It seems reasonable to me that a starboard antenna could be used for flying a burgee.
Sizing your flags: The sizes and condition of flags are important. They should not be tatty and should not hang in the water, but should still be large enough to be seen. The best advice is "what looks right" but a rough guide is as follows:
Ensign: The general guideline for the size of Ensign used to be an inch per foot of yacht, but on many modern yachts this is frequently found to be a little on the small side for the vessel to look "well dressed". Roughly speaking a 3/4 yard Ensign should look right on a boat of 21-26 ft, 1 yard for 27- 34 ft, 1 1/4 yard for 35 - 42 ft, 1 1/2 yard for 43 - 50 ft and 1 3/4 yard for 51 - 60 ft, but some discretion may need to be applied.
Burgee: A burgee of 15" in the fly (the horizontal measurement) should look appropriate on vessels up to 34ft. This increases to 18" for up to 42ft, 24" for up to 50ft and 30" up to 60 ft.
Courtesy Flag: Having an undersized, faded or tatty courtesy flag in many places is worse than having no courtesy flag. Again as a guide only, 12" in the fly should look appropriate for 21-26 ft, 15" for 27- 34 ft, 18" for 35 - 42 ft, 22" for 43 - 50 ft and 30" for 51 - 60 ft.
Last edited by a moderator:
Foxsea
Well-Known Member
I can't find any info on flying an ensign from an antenna, only from the stern but they say a starboard halyard for a burgee on a sailing yacht so why not?
I'm a believer in flying the Canadian flag at home and on the water. Salute our flag with pride and Harper with one, upraised, middle finger (or a two-handed boquet for that matter! lol)
Hookin'up
Well-Known Member
these salty dog flags/burgees over on ifish look pretty cool
http://www.ifish.net/store.html bottom of page, she's taking pre-orders now I may just order one,
http://www.ifish.net/store.html bottom of page, she's taking pre-orders now I may just order one,
Sculpin
Well-Known Member
The previous owner of my boat was a major contributor to that site and he gave me his coveted salty dog flag to fly proudly on the boat. I have misplaced it and it is driving me nuts. They are cool flags for sure. It is around somewhere but after 4 years of hiding it's hard to find lol.
kanuckle head
Well-Known Member
Similar threads
