LadyJessie
Well-Known Member
so what\'s with the Red Ensign?
Here is a trivia question for you:
During sundowner time in this very busy bay in the eastern Med, our guests started commenting on the boats anchored around us (as you do...). I got the question "why do the British have a different maritime flag when most other nations seems to use their national flag?" I didn't know the answer. Several sundowner-induced theories were developed: the one that got the most votes was "the British always perceive themselves as slightly different, although they are not". Obviously, the majority of the crew was made up of continentals. The poor lonely Brit among us came up with "we are a nation with a long seafaring history and we take traditions seriously". This was very crudely laughed off by the Scandinavians present who pointed out that they had been at sea for much longer and still didn't see the need for a separate maritime flag. (This is actually not correct as both the Danish and the Norwegians have different maritime flags. However, they are difficult to tell apart from their normal national flag and is mostly only flown by diehard Royal Yacht Club types.)
So we did not come up with a good answer. That is why I now turn our question to this source of all knowledge and wisdom:
Why the Red Ensign? And why is it red?
Here is a trivia question for you:
During sundowner time in this very busy bay in the eastern Med, our guests started commenting on the boats anchored around us (as you do...). I got the question "why do the British have a different maritime flag when most other nations seems to use their national flag?" I didn't know the answer. Several sundowner-induced theories were developed: the one that got the most votes was "the British always perceive themselves as slightly different, although they are not". Obviously, the majority of the crew was made up of continentals. The poor lonely Brit among us came up with "we are a nation with a long seafaring history and we take traditions seriously". This was very crudely laughed off by the Scandinavians present who pointed out that they had been at sea for much longer and still didn't see the need for a separate maritime flag. (This is actually not correct as both the Danish and the Norwegians have different maritime flags. However, they are difficult to tell apart from their normal national flag and is mostly only flown by diehard Royal Yacht Club types.)
So we did not come up with a good answer. That is why I now turn our question to this source of all knowledge and wisdom:
Why the Red Ensign? And why is it red?
Thus far, and in a nutshell, I have drawn a series of conclusions. First, a large number of unauthorized red ensigns were made by non-British flag manufacturers with a substantial number of those being made in the US. This was done for a couple of reasons, but the main reason was outright ignorance, or at least lack of understanding concerning British regulation, which could be ambiguous at times. Over the last 100+ years, there have been a number of circulated credible publications suggesting (erroneously) that the proper flag or ensign for civil use concerning any British colony would have been the defaced red ensign. As now, any attempt to get verification directly from a British government office would have perhaps proven fruitless as British government entities in my experience are notorious for not responding to enquiries. With that being said, manufacturers would have produced unwarranted red ensigns in good faith. They would have been used as courtesy flags abroad and would have represented their respective colonies on land. For example, a missionary working in Northern Rhodesia might speak in a US church while on furlough. The church may have ordered a Northern Rhodesian flag to put on display. Any of a number of flag companies may have made up a red ensign for the church based on what information they had.
