Civil ensign

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The civil ensign (also known as merchant flag or merchant ensign) is the national flag flown by civil ships (merchant ships and others) to denote nationality.

Beside the naval ensign the civil ensign is one of the two original types of the national flag. In most countries there was originally no distinction between the flag for armed state ships (navy) and civilian-owned, unarmed ships (merchant marine). Today many countries follow the practice of e.g. the USA and France in having only one flag for all or most purposes of the national flag.

In several countries, however, this distinction has developed and was later adopted by other countries as well. Most notable for the elaborate flag system is the United Kingdom, that has (inter alia) the Red Ensign for civilian ships and the White Ensign for the Royal Navy.

Contents

[edit] Countries having specific civil ensigns

The civil ensigns that are different from the "general" national flag, can be grouped in five main categories.

[edit] Red Ensigns after the British pattern

These are red flags with, in most cases, the respective national flag or Union Flag in the canton, patterned after the British Red Ensign. British overseas territories either fly the plain Red Ensign or a Red Ensign with the respective colonial arms in the fly.

United Kingdom[1]

Red Ensign (Civil ensign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

Guernsey

Civil ensign of Guernsey

Isle of Man

Civil ensign of the Isle of Man

British Virgin Is.

Civil ensign of the British Virgin Islands

Falkland Is.

Civil ensign of the Falkland Islands

Gibraltar

Civil ensign of Gibraltar

Cayman Is.

Civil ensign of the Cayman Islands

Turks and Caicos Is.

Civil ensign of the Turks and Caicos Islands

Australia[2]

Civil ensign of Australia

Bahamas

Civil ensign of the Bahamas

Bangladesh

Civil ensign of Bangladesh

Fiji

Civil ensign of Fiji

Ghana

Civil ensign of Ghana

India

Civil ensign of India

Malaysia

Civil ensign of Malaysia

Mauritius

Civil ensign of Mauritius

New Zealand

Civil ensign of New Zealand

Pakistan

Civil ensign of Pakistan

Solomon Is.

Civil ensign of the Solomon Islands

United Arab Emirates[3]

Civil ensign of the United Arab Emirates (variant)

[edit] Civil ensign very different from the national flag

Several countries have civil ensign that are very different from the national flag, for instance Malta and Luxembourg.

Albania

Civil ensign of Albania

Israel

Civil ensign of Israel

Luxembourg

Civil ensign of Luxembourg

Malta

Civil ensign of Malta

Singapore

Civil ensign of Singapore

[edit] Civil ensigns consisting of the national flag with an additional emblem

Well-known examples are the Italian civil ensign showing the shield with the arms of the sea republics or the Polish civil ensign with the arms of Poland. Most of these emblems were added to distinguish the ensign from similar flags of other countries.

Colombia

Civil Ensign of Colombia

El Salvador

Civil Ensign of El Salvador

Italy

Civil Ensign of Italy

Morocco[4]

Civil Ensign of Morocco

Poland

Civil Ensign of Poland

Saudi Arabia

Civil Ensign of Saudi Arabia

R.O.C.[5]

Civil Ensign of the Republic of China (Tawian)

[edit] Simplified national flags

In several (mostly Latin American) countries there are two main versions of the flag, a simpler one (usually a striped flag) and a more elaborated one with the national arms. The simpler one is used as civil ensign (and in most cases also as civil flag), whereas the version with the arms is mainly used by the government and the military. Interestingly this is similar to the practice in Germany, Austria. In Spain the flag without the arms is only a variant for civil use, the national flag is used also as Civil ensign. [6].

Austria

Civil Ensign of Austria

Bolivia

Civil Ensign of Bolivia

Costa Rica

Civil Ensign of Costa Rica

Dominican Rep.

Civil Ensign of the Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Civil Ensign of Ecuador

Germany

Civil Ensign of Germany

Guatemala

Civil Ensign of Guatemala

Haiti

Civil Ensign of Haiti

Peru

Civil Ensign of Peru

Spain

Civil Ensign of Spain (variant)

Venezuela

Civil Ensign of Venezuela

[edit] Civil ensigns differing from the national flag in the proportions

Several former British colonies use 1:2 as a proportion for their ensigns, whereas 3:5 is used for flags ashore. The countries of former Yugoslavia have it the other way round: the ensigns are 2:3, flags ashore are 1:2.

Croatia

Civil Ensign of Croatia

Grenada

Civil Ensign of Grenada

Guyana

Civil Ensign of Guyana

Slovenia

Civil Ensign of Slovenia

Switzerland[7]

Civil Ensign of Switzerland

Trinidad and Tobago

Civil Ensign of Trinidad and Tobago

[edit] Remarks

  1. ^ the plain red ensign is also used in Jersey, Anguilla, British Indian Ocean Territory, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena
  2. ^ the Australian national flag is also used for smaller ships
  3. ^ The UAE national flag is also reported as civil ensign
  4. ^ the Moroccan national flag is also reported as civil ensign
  5. ^ the national flag of the R.O.C. is also reported as civil ensign
  6. ^ the simplified Spanish flag is a variant for civil use. Source:The history of the flag. (In spanish)
  7. ^ the Swiss flag in square format is used on most rivers and lakes