Ensigns

A

alanporter

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 Jul 2002
Messages
324
Location
Victoria, BC, Canada
Visit site
What is all the bull s**t about red and blue ensigns ?, and why deface them anyway ? Over here in Canada all vessels proudly fly the National Flag as their ensign ? You guys are wierd !

Alan Porter
 
You\'re just jealous. Ever read \'Blue Duster\'?

Charles Rawlings classic short story based on the real-life Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. Canadians were the greatest ensign snobs of all. What a shame you lost it!
 
Oh no, here we go

...stoking the fire with flag ettiquette remarks. Lets see this run and run.

Bring back Steve101. Anything but flag ettiquette

<font color=red>Jeremy Flynn/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif
Dawn Chorus</font color=red>
 
Re: Oh no, here we go

yawn..............................................................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

biere.gif
Haydn
 
Re: Grammar help for Bob

The spelling is improving!

However, the structure of the second sentence is poor, because it terminates with a prepostion. It would be more grammatically correct to say "From where do they come?". Admittedly, this loses some of the essence of the remark, despite the obvious answer "He's from Canada, Bob!". A better solution could possibly include the expletive, but as a subsidiary phrase thus: "Where do they come from, for f--k's sake?"

Finally, the way in which you sign off is a little haphazard: you seem to be invariably using "cheers bob t". Now, not only does this have no punctuation, but it's redundant: your setup (as in user options) automatically inserts your name again at the bottom!

I know that you wanted to do something about this, and I do hope this helps :-)
 
Re: In this case ... Canada

not sure but i've heard its the largest american state.
 
Re: Grammar help for Bob

I think there's a flame in the making here, tcm. Bob T. is very sensitive to criticism, I seem to recall.

<font color=red>Jeremy Flynn/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif
Dawn Chorus</font color=red>
 
OK then, the colour only identifies the type of vessel, i.e. navy, merchant etc.
Defaced only means it has a secand emblem, until you adopted the Maple leaf a few years back, the Canadian National flag was a defaced blue ensign, as Australia etc.

Do they not do history in Canada now.

Brian
 
Certainement, Monsieur!!!

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.arweb.co.uk/argallery/forbsie>My Project Pics</A>
 
Do you really want to know, Alan? Or just have a pop? Because if you really want to know, the answer is something like this:-

In the 17/18/19th century navies, there were three squadrons, distinguished by the colour of their ensigns - red, white and blue. Later, the three colours came to be used to denote different types of vessel - red for merchant vessels, white for vessels belonging to the Royal Navy and blue for naval auxiliaries and vessels in other government services such as Customs and Excise.

The red ensign is the general purpose ensign for yachts and is the one most of them wear. However, during the two world wars, many yachtsmen joined the navy and gave distinguished service as members of the naval reserve. In recognition, some of the older clubs - the ones these yachtsmen came from - were given the right to grant warrents to their members to wear a blue ensign - the flag of the naval reserve. Some of these clubs (and they are by no means all exclusive, just old) have their own badge on the fly. Others, such as the naval yacht clubs, can grant permission to wear a plain blue ensign. In all cases, it is the person, not the boat, that can wear the blue ensign. (On our boat we have "his 'n hers" ensigns. When he is aboard, we wear his blue ensign - he is a former officer in the Navy and Naval Reserve - and when he is not, we wear the red ensign)

There is also the Royal Yacht Squadron - very posh, I believe - which is the only club entitled to grant warrents to fly the navy's own ensign - the white. How that happened, I cannot tell you. Some clubs, such as the Essex Yacht Club, also have red ensigns defaced with a badge - in this case, the badge of the County of Essex. Again, I am not sure how or why that happened.

Just to confuse matters, you will also see, occasionally, a light blue ensign with the badge (roundle?) of the Royal Airforce. I think this denotes the RAF yacht club (surprise, surprise)

There is a lot of rubbish spoken about the supposed attitudes of people who wear ensigns other than the plain red. I have never encountered any of the snobbery and sense of superiority that is sometimes attributed to them, but hey, what do I know? I've only been around the sailing scene for around 45 years. Perhaps it's a Solent phenomenon, if it exists at all. That I wouldn't know. However, I think people would do well to remember the wise words of Eleanor Roosevelt - "nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission."

I hope that helps. I am sure other people can correct any mistakes and add other information, but that, for what it's worth, is the general gist.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Violetta on 14/10/2002 09:12 (server time).</FONT></P>
 
Violetta. Many thanks for your helpful description of the different ensigns. I asked in a somewhat lighthearted manner and got some rather amusing responses, but no real information. Yours was just what I was looking for.
Side comment for Halcyon - the original Canadian flag was red not blue, but historical knowledge of the Canadian national flag does not tell one about the traditions amongst British yachtsmen.
Thank you everyone for your responses, I enjoy reading them. Even the ones that I suspect might be a little sarcastic.
Good sailing.

Alan Porter
 
When Canada adopted its new flag, I was being trained in the Royal Navy. We had a RCN exchange officer teaching us. One day, he arrived in a green uniform with gold rings and anchors on his lapels (apparantly the RCAF had birds and, presumably, the army had boots). Calling him "Major" had the happy result of wasting at least half of the lecture while he told us exactly what he thought of loosing his dark blue uniform, the white ensign (presumably the blue and red as well) and having them all replaced by what he described as a "table mat".

Perhaps he was a bit weird. He (and his collegues) certainly had the sympathy of the RN.
 
Too true Chas. I thought we looked like bus drivers (no disrespect intended to bus drivers). We went back to Naval uniforms in 1987, but they turned out to be black and not Navy blue. In addition, they have six buttons instead of the original eight. In summer, of course, we have Whites. Anyway, I am retired from the Navy now, and just wear "scruff order"and foulies.

Alan Porter
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top