blue ensign

[Poignard]

[ QUOTE ]
I've just checked the regs and SSR Certificate qualifies the wearing of the Blue .

[/ QUOTE ]

Standards are slipping. Letting any Tom, Dick or Harry fly them nowadays. They tell me there are even bounders who don't dress for dinner anymore. Apes will be leaving the Rock next.

What's the world coming to? [Deep sigh]

 

[alant]

To be pedantic, the individual 'qualified' to fly a Blue Ensign, usually the boat owner, MUST be aboard, when its flown.

Others cannot fly it unaccompanied by this individual & must fly a Red Ensign instead.

Its not allocated to a vessel, but to an individual.

 

[Lizzie_B]

Most of the 'priviledged ' clubs now hold the warrant and issue 'permits' to those members entitled to apply for a permit. The permit is specific to the person and the boat and are not interchangeable.

There is usually a restriction on length overall, and/or tonnage and the vessel must be British registered (part 1 or SSR).

Last time I checked LOA had to be 27ft or more.

Wearing a special ensign has nothing to do with ego trips (though of course it is for some - just like those that wear reds have amongst their number those with an inverted snobbery at the sight of a blue ensign /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif) it is a celebration of our maritime heritage.

As said before, warrants have been issued over the years in recognition of services to the crown, nation, seamanship or navigation.

It is perfectly correct to wear a blue any where in the world as it is just as much a british maritime ensign as the white or the red.

Warrants can be issued to individuals (eg some merchant navy captains who hold a commision in the RNR), but most are issued to organisations or clubs.

They can be issued by 'The Crown' or the Secretary of State for Defence.

The Army Sailing Association have a blue ensign defaced by crossed swords, The RAF Y.C. is a blue defaced by an RAF eagle and the RAF and RAFSA use a sky blue ensign defaced by an RAF roundel. An example of a priviledged club wearing a special red ensign is the Royal Victoria based in Wooton Creek.

/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[caol]

Good on you, Old Gaffer

[ QUOTE ]
I fly the undefaced blue, having a permit from my club (RNVR YC).

(BTW: I'm not a retired admiral, rich git, snob or on an ego trip - just proud of my club's roots.)

[/ QUOTE ]

People who attribute motives to others say more about themselves than they do about those they denigrate. I suspect most of those wearing the various blue and defaced red ensigns feel exactly as you do. I've been around the sailing scene for a great many years and I have never found any difference in attitudes that could be collated with the colour of the ensign.

 

[jrt]

Just another condition:

If the boat is in shared ownership all of the part owners must be members of the issuing club.

 

[caol]

[ QUOTE ]


It is perfectly correct to wear a blue any where in the world as it is just as much a british maritime ensign as the white or the red.


[/ QUOTE ]

Not so convenient, though. I worked on a yacht with a blue ensign skipper for many years. We sailed all over western Europe and found it preferable to wear a red when abroad, simply to avoid confusion and irrelevant assumptions. The red is universally recognised, but, amazingly, not everyone understands our intricate rules of flag etiquette.

 

[Lizzie_B]

Never had a problem. In fact, the sight of my permit from the secretary of state for defence amongst the ship's papers usually seems to speed things up.
Other nations have their intricacies as well, including the Dutch and the Yanks.

 

[Lizzie_B]

Not correct. If the vessel is in joint ownership the permit holder(s) must own a minimum of 51% of the boat.

 

[WowdyWebel]

OK...a little quiz for you

My uncle is RYS and wears a white ensign, my father ex navy of the required rank and wears a blue ensign. I can claim neither membership of the requisite club nor a glittering military career so must settle for a red.

If we have a raft up who is doing the cooking, who is pouring the drinks and who is emptying the dustbins?

 

[DaveS]

Good point! Incidentally, ISTR that the UK isn't unique, and that a handful of other countries use nautical ensigns that differ from their national flags, but offhand cannot think of any. Anyone know?

BTW - LizzieB & others - I'm sure you're not deliberately trying to exclude our friends in Northern Ireland, but the ensigns discussed so far are, I believe, all UK, not "British".

 

[oldgaffer1]

[ QUOTE ]

If we have a raft up who is doing the cooking, who is pouring the drinks and who is emptying the dustbins?

[/ QUOTE ]
In my neck of the woods that would probably the poor Polish guy!

 

[Vara]

Smart ensign, wish I had one of those! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[pappaecho]

Dont Forget the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal Navy wear white...
Also wearing white is the Royal Engineers Yacht Club which predates the Royal Yacht Squadron, by many years and is the first recorded yacht club in the world.
Royal Engineers taught the Navy how to dive, oh and the Royal Airforce how to fly

 

[Lizzie_B]

And none more British than our friends in Northern Ireland.

 

[Lizzie_B]

Whoever the skipper says is doing it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Seven Spades]

I am sure it is not policed or ever checked. It may be a criminal offence, but why would any police officer ever want to clog up the courts with such a matter. manners dictate that you should not wear a flag to which you are not entitled, in the same way as you would not wear an old school tie for a school you have not attended.

Life is to short for such trivialities.

 

[Lizzie_B]

Who knows what might happen if our former chancellor realises here is another untapped revenue stream.

 

[MarkGrubb]

I was just starting to understand the flag ettiquette, very interesting, but now I'm completely lost. Why should people not wear an old school tie from a school they have not attended? What if the colours match your shirt, socks or the pattern in SWMBO's frock, is it still not allowed?

 

[DaveS]

The term "British" used in NI is inescapably political and offends many. This isn't an entirely Loyalist / Nationalist thing, however: I've yet to meet someone of either (or neither) persuasion from NI who is happy about carrying a GB sticker on his/her car when abroad.

Sticking purely to the facts (and avoiding relatively minor issues like the status of Berwick): Great Britain = Scotland, England, Wales. UK = Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland. Use of Britain (or, for that matter, and thankfully becoming less common, England) when UK is actually meant excludes, deliberately or otherwise.

 

[Stork_III]

Italian Ensign is Green/Black/Red verticals with shield and crown in Black.