 |
|
|
|---|---|---|
Flag and Etiquette
|
Do It Right! |
|
|
|
||
Can a nation have more than one ensign?
Unlike the U.S., which has only one flag, many countries—British Commonwealth countries are good examples—have two or more ensigns for use at sea. There's a civil ensign for private (citizen) use, a state ensign for government use, and a war ensign for military use.
In addition to these ensigns, there can also be three flags—civil, state and military—for use on land.
Having said that, some countries, Australia for example, prefer civilians use their state ensign as a courtesy flag—the blue ensign rather than the red.
Here are some common definitions:
- Ensign—A national flag in maritime use or flags of naval services and nationwide maritime organizations.
- Courtesy flag—The civil ensign of a country being visited by a merchant vessel or yacht of a different nationality.
- Civil Ensign (or Merchant Ensign)—The national flag flown by a civilian vessel.
- Government Ensign (or State Ensign)—A flag designating national identity of non-military vessels in government service.
- National Flag—The flag flown by citizens of the country and usually used to represent the country abroad. For some countries the state flag would be used instead (e.g. Argentina, Haiti and Spain). Many countries like the United States only have national flags, using them for all purposes, including on vessels.
- Naval Ensign (or War Ensign)—The flag flown by naval vessels.
- Courtesy flag—The civil ensign of a country being visited by a merchant vessel or yacht of a different nationality.
Not to confuse matters even more, but Maine and and Massachusetts (and several cities) have distinctive flags for maritime use that are different from their regular flags. (Maine Merchant and Maritime flag and Massachusetts Naval ensign.)
|
|