Flying my national flag while abroad on a yacht charter

[benlui]

Can i fly The irish flag while on a charter abroad? I asume the charter yacht will come with her croatian flag.Leaving this up, can I also fly the irish flag (a small/smaller one to that of the croatian ensign) from a side stay or somewhere,or should i not do this at all? What do others do?

 

[MoodySabre]

Why would you want to? In fact it may be incorrect as your boat will be under the jurisdiction of the country where it is registered and not "a little piece of your home country" which flying your own ensign from your own boat conveys.

 

[Tranona]

It is normal to fly your own flag as a courtesy on the starboard cross tree. I expect the charter company will actually do this for you. The ensign will of course be the flag of registration, probably Croatia. However I once chartered from Sunsail in Turkey and the boat was registered in France!

 

[Manuel]

It is normal to fly your own flag as a courtesy on the starboard cross tree. I expect the charter company will actually do this for you. The ensign will of course be the flag of registration, probably Croatia. However I once chartered from Sunsail in Turkey and the boat was registered in France!

No, that isn't correct. You fly the courtesy flag of the county whose waters you are sailing in, from the stbd cross tree. It is a legal statement that you recognise you are in another country's waters and comply with their legal requirements. You may fly whatever you like from the port crosstree, your own national flag or whatever.

To be clear. An Irishman sailing a Croatian registered vessel in Italian waters must fly the Croatian ensign from the stern (or mizzen) and must fly the Italian courtesy on the stbd. That is legal stuff, not simply 'good form'.

 

[affinite]

Its ok isnt it ?

No, that isn't correct. You fly the courtesy flag of the county whose waters you are sailing in, from the stbd cross tree. It is a legal statement that you recognise you are in another country's waters and comply with their legal requirements. You may fly whatever you like from the port crosstree, your own national flag or whatever.

To be clear. An Irishman sailing a Croatian registered vessel in Italian waters must fly the Croatian ensign from the stern (or mizzen) and must fly the Italian courtesy on the stbd. That is legal stuff, not simply 'good form'.

Yes quite right but what most charters do is also to fly their own country flag in the PORT cross tree. I see no harm in that, although as a courtesy to the country you are visiting the courtesy flag should be the highest in the STBD cross tree.
Cant say Im too keen on the huge St George cross's, Union Jacks and Welsh dragons you see around but provided they are in the port cross trees, I can see it does much harm. Incidently, you only have to look at the full set of bunting that the flotilla lead boats fly to see how much respect they have for courtesey and tradition.

 

[Ubergeekian]

To be clear. An Irishman sailing a Croatian registered vessel in Italian waters must fly the Croatian ensign from the stern (or mizzen) and must fly the Italian courtesy on the stbd. That is legal stuff, not simply 'good form'.

What law?

 

[Salty John]

Fly your Irish flag (or your cocktail flag, skull & crossbones etc.) at the port spreader.
The national flag/ensign of the country in which the boat is registered will be at the stern and the starboard spreader is the appropriate location for a courtesy flag if the boat is visiting a country foreign to that in which it is registered.
Some countries take flag protocol seriously and will fine you for not complying, others couldn't care less. Always better, I think, to follow established protocol, if only to demonstrate you are aware of it.

 

[KellysEye]

>What law?

Flying a courtesy flag within territorial waters is mainly custom, but there are local laws in certan countries. Venezuela changed the number of stars on their flag but chandlers were still selling the old flag. You stand a reasonable chance of being fined in Venezuela if you don't fly their flag, if you fly the wrong flag or if the flag is tatty. The island of Bequia also was also fining people for the same reasons some years ago.

In islands like Bonaire you can fly the Netherlands Antilles flag but the locals prefer you to fly the Bonaire flag. In Corsica they prefer the Corsican flag not the French flag.

We always fly courtesy flags, it's polite to do it and we have over twenty flags to string up, with fond memories, when we become dirt dwellers again.

Don't forget the Q flag, I believe that is a punishable offence.

 

[Keen_Ed]

Yes quite right but what most charters do is also to fly their own country flag in the PORT cross tree. I see no harm in that, although as a courtesy to the country you are visiting the courtesy flag should be the highest in the STBD cross tree.
Cant say Im too keen on the huge St George cross's, Union Jacks and Welsh dragons you see around but provided they are in the port cross trees, I can see it does much harm. Incidently, you only have to look at the full set of bunting that the flotilla lead boats fly to see how much respect they have for courtesey and tradition.

Actually, if you have two sets of spreaders, the lower spreaders rank higher than the upper spreaders. As it were.

Order of precedence (highest to lowest): lower starboard, lower port, upper starboard, upper port.

 

[Marsupial]

Actually, if you have two sets of spreaders, the lower spreaders rank higher than the upper spreaders. As it were.

Order of precedence (highest to lowest): lower starboard, lower port, upper starboard, upper port.

Not quite - it goes like this:

i) The position in descending order or priority which flags may be flown are:
(a) Main mast starboard crosstree outer halyard.
(b) Main mast port crosstree outer halyard.
(c) Main mast starboard crosstree inner halyard.
(d) Main mast port crosstree inner halyard.
ii) For power craft without a mast flags should be positioned above the wheelhouse but always inferior to the Club Burgee.
iii) The descending order of priority of Flags are:
(a) Maritime Ensign of foreign country.
(b) Provincial flag.
(c) Owner’s House Flag.
(d) Customs Flag Q.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

You will also find in many places in Turkey, that if you do not have a clean new looking Turkish flag or pennant displayed, that you are likely to be hauled over and rebuked.
In fact some marinas give out a new pennant each season to their customers.

I feel a lot more 'flag postings' coming on....

 

[jason -and the arguenauts]

Cant say Im too keen on the huge St George cross's, and Welsh dragons you see around

They're the wrong flags in a legal sense, 'cos the country is the United Kingdom and not the constituent regions like England, Scotland etc.

That said, who cares?

 

[haydude]

This begs a question or two.

I am a citizen of country A, but I am resident in country B and I own a sailing yacht registered in country B, laying in country B.

I always fly country B maritime flag at the stern. That is all OK as I understand.
But since I am a proud citizen of country A and the yacht's owner, I want to fly my country's A maritime flag. What is the most appropriate place? Starboard or Port cross tree?

Now if I visit country C, I fly country C's courtesy flag to Starboard cross tree, where in this case do I fly my country A flag?

 

[haydude]

They're the wrong flags in a legal sense, 'cos the country is the United Kingdom and not the constituent regions like England, Scotland etc.

That said, who cares?

I read that there is a £20,000 fine for flying the St. George cross inappropriately. It means "Admiral on board"

 

[KellysEye]

>I am resident in country B and I own a sailing yacht registered in country B, laying in country B...citizen of country A and the yacht's owner, I want to fly my country's A maritime flag. What is the most appropriate place? Starboard or Port cross tree?

Port side. Also used for club flags, skull and crossbones and all sorts of strange things.

>Now if I visit country C, I fly country C's courtesy flag to Starboard cross tree, where in this case do I fly my country A flag?

Continue to fly port, the country you are visiting always goes starboard.

 

[haydude]

Port side. Also used for club flags, skull and crossbones and all sorts of strange things.

Thank you, however someone told me that flying my own flag to port is kind of offensive to my flag. What would be the consequences to flying the owner's flag to starboard?

 

[Salty John]

People who understand flag etiquette will think you're lost, unless by chance you are flying your 'owners' flag in the country of your nationality.

 

[JamesFrance]

The flag flown below the port crosstree, is an acknowledgement that there are guests on board of different nationality to the ship's country of registration and is just a courtesy.

The one to starboard is certainly expected when in the waters of another country and it is appreciated if you also fly the local i.e. Catalan flag below the national maritime ensign of the country you are visiting.

 

[KellysEye]

>flying my own flag to port

Seems rather pointles if it's the same flag as on the stern. However we do see lots of boats who fly their the nationality flag(s) of their crew on port, including Brit boats with English/Welsh etc flags.

Starboard is basically reserved for signal flags (such as Q) and courtesy flags.

As an aside, we once sailed a French flagged charter yacht in Puerto Rico. We had a Puerto Rico flag on starboard and a red ensign crew flag on port. We were approached by a US Navy gunboat who asked what the red ensign was. Unbelievable, what plonkers.

 

[Manuel]

What law?

Have a look at,

http://www.fotw.net/flags/xf-cour.html

which though hardly a source of legal opinion is also my understanding. Unless you like having discussions with customs and police at sea, in a foreign language having all your documents inspected, I strongly suggest that you comply and fly a courtesy of the country whose waters you are in.

As far as I am aware, there is no international rules obliging the ships to fly the courtesy ensign, but there are number of states that require it by local laws (which the sailors in territorial waters must obey). I was told that there are also some maritime countries that have coast guard/naval police/similar enforce the flying of the courtesy ensign quite strictly even if it is not clear if this is required by the local regulations, but since it is hard to discuss with the local police in those places, it's better to obey.