Flying the Scottish red ensign

webcraft

webcraft

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Can't help but notice on the West Coast of Scotland this year more and more boats are flying the Scottish red ensign.

Technically the flying of the Scottish Red Ensign is illegal, although there is no record of any yacht owner having been prosecuted for its use. Now however a petition has been lodged with the Scottish Parliament calling on it to urge the Scottish Government to seek a warrant from the UK Government in terms of Part 1, Section 2(3)(a) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, for the re-introduction Scottish Red Ensign as an ‘informal or voluntary’ ensign for Scottish vessels.

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01569

In the meantime it is in stock at Duncans in Glasgow and from various other suppliers.

http://www.duncanyacht.co.uk/showpartnumber.asp?PartNumberID=302706

- W
 
Considering the Scottish people voted to stay in the Union, why would we waste time doing this...Just breeds more
separatism
 
webcraft said:
Technically the flying of the Scottish Red Ensign is illegal ...
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Only if you use it when a UK red ensign is legally required, which for a UK yacht in UK waters is, effectively, "never". Otherwise it's just a charming decoration.

Blue ensigns flown sans burgee and warrant are a different matter, even if they do match the fenders.
 
I can't see why anybody would buy a Scottish Red Ensign. It is a kind of weird contradiction of tradition /establishment and anti-establishment protest.

A Scottish saltire as a regional flag makes sense within UK waters - similar to the extensive flying of the Brittany flag by local boats there.
But why link it to a red background ? Seems no sense at all.

If you must have an "ensign"-ed version of the saltire, surely the blue or white colours would look much neater, and more relevant to Scotland. As the "Scottish red ensign" is meaningless / invalid, why bother about the colour of the other bit ?
 
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dunedin said:
I can't see why anybody would buy a Scottish Red Ensign. It is a kind of weird contradiction of tradition /establishment and anti-establishment protest.

A Scottish saltire as a regional flag makes sense within UK waters - similar to the extensive flying of the Brittany flag by local boats there.
But why link it to a red background ?
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Because that was the flag used by both the Scottish merchant navy and the Royal Scots Navy prior to the Act of Union. It's not a recently made-up notion - in fact, it predates the (UK) red ensign which was created at the union by combining the English and Scottish ensigns.

I don't know or care why anyone chooses any ensign; Scottish or British, blue or red, defaced or plain. I assume they have reasons for their choice just as I have reasons for my choice, and I am not arrogant or self-centred enough to believe that my priorities and values - in this regard, anyway - should apply to other people.

There is a rather nice painting (sorry, can't find it online) of the Great Michael, built at Newhaven, 1507 - 1511, in Aberdeen Art Gallery. She is flying a Scottish Red Ensign.
 
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webcraft said:
.
Can't help but notice on the West Coast of Scotland this year more and more boats are flying the Scottish red ensign.

Technically the flying of the Scottish Red Ensign is illegal, although there is no record of any yacht owner having been
prosecuted for its use. Now however a petition has been lodged with the Scottish Parliament calling on it to urge th
Scottish Government to seek a warrant from the UK Government in terms of Part 1, Section 2(3)(a) of the Merchant Shipping
Act 1995, for the re-introduction Scottish Red Ensign as an ‘informal or voluntary’ ensign for Scottish vessel


http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01569[/B

http://www.duncanyacht.co.uk/showpartnumber.asp?PartNumberID=302706

- W
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Whit a fekkin'waste of time and money.

And ye want Scotland tae be taken seriously as a Nation?
Time to grow up.
 
You don't actually have a choice over your ensign unless you choose to get a warrant for a blue one. You may choose to fly something else out of ignorance but it isn't your ensign.

JumbleDuck said:
Because that was the flag used by both the Scottish merchant navy and the Royal Scots Navy prior to the Act of Union. It's not a recently made-up notion - in fact, it predates the (UK) red ensign which was created at the union by combining the English and Scottish ensigns.

I don't know or care why anyone chooses any ensign; Scottish or British, blue or red, defaced or plain. I assume they have reasons for their choice just as I have reasons for my choice, and I am not arrogant or self-centred enough to believe that my priorities and values - in this regard, anyway - should apply to other people.

There is a rather nice painting (sorry, can't find it online) of the Great Michael, built at Newhaven, 1507 - 1511, in Aberdeen Art Gallery. She is flying a Scottish Red Ensign.
Click to expand...
 
BruceDanforth said:
You don't actually have a choice over your ensign unless you choose to get a warrant for a blue one. You may choose to fly something else out of ignorance but it isn't your ensign.
Click to expand...

Anyone leisure sailor with the necessary permissions for a special ensign - red, white or blue - may also fly the red one, so it is very much a matter of choice.

You don't know my reasons for flying the Scottish merchant flag and so I am little disappointed that you have chosen to introduce a note of personal abuse by describing it as flown "out of ignorance". On the contrary, I am fully aware of the issues around the flag and have consistently said that it is not, currently, a legal substitute for the UK red ensign at those time when a UK red ensign is required. I have a UK red ensign too, somewhere, for those occasions.
 
I'd encourage you to keep flying it as it helps me to assess the likelihood of needing to avoid idiots, so don't be disappointed.

JumbleDuck said:
Anyone leisure sailor with the necessary permissions for a special ensign - red, white or blue - may also fly the red one, so it is very much a matter of choice.

You don't know my reasons for flying the Scottish merchant flag and so I am little disappointed that you have chosen to introduce a note of personal abuse by describing it as flown "out of ignorance". On the contrary, I am fully aware of the issues around the flag and have consistently said that it is not, currently, a legal substitute for the UK red ensign at those time when a UK red ensign is required. I have a UK red ensign too, somewhere, for those occasions.
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Well I'm from Scotland.
I have been all my life yet I had never heard of a Scottish Ensign until recently and did not know what it looked like till today.
Is there a Welsh Ensign?

You still see the occasional Red Ensign here. I am happy with the Maple Leaf.
 
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Uricanejack said:
Well I'm from Scotland.
I have been all my life yet I had never heard of a Scottish Ensign until recently and did not know what it looked like till today.
Is there a Welsh Ensign?
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There wasn't a historical one, as far as I know. Someone may have invented one, though. I have a Welsh dragon courtesy flag.
 
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