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British Flags

Chapter 8 No.8

Word Count: 18727    |    Released on: 06/12/2017

elnis raid and ?allow taffitis of cord, price of the elne xviij s. and twa e

li. viij

the 12th for 8 ells red, and

th the saltire in a canton or overall[125]. It is probable, however, that he was relying on obsolete information, for there seems no other evidence of a parti

ject. The rampant lion with a tressure fleur-de-lisé first appears in a seal of Alexander II appended to a Charter dated 1222[128]. Except for the period during which Mary Queen of Scots, afte

ntury. In the early years of the eleventh century Sigurd, Earl of Orkney, who afterwards carried the Raven

h shame. Now take this banner, which I have wrought for thee with all my skill! And I say, by my knowledge, that the victory shall be to them before whom it is borne, but deadly shall it be to them that bear it." The banner was made with much fine needle-work, and with exceeding art. It was wrought in the likeness of a raven, and when the wind blew upon the banner it was as if the raven flapped his wings in flight. Earl Sigrod was very angry at h

flight saw from the position of the royal standard, which was in the likeness of a dragon[131], that their king was not slain, and gathering themselves to him they renewed the fight. On this occasion the Scottish king's son made use of the followin

om the Lord High Treasurer's accounts it appears that no less a sum than £72. 7s. 6d. was expended upon the "mayn standert" of the "Great Michael" in 1513. This flag appears to have had a St Andrew's cross on a blue ground at the head,

) IR

to the people among whom in early youth the fortune of war placed him. He seems, moreover, never to have had a serious competitor for their favour[132], an

h words but had apparently been borrowed from the Danish invaders who wrought such havoc to the ancient Irish civilisation from the ninth to the eleventh centuries. The word used by the author of the C

Danish invaders of Ireland under the Earl Sigurd, assisted by the revolted king of Leinster, the Irish under Br

and of green, and of all kinds of colours; together with the everlasting, variegated, lucky, fortunate banner that had gained th

eldest son, Murchadh, still remained aloft. Towards the end he asked once more, and the attendant reported that it was far from Murchadh but still standing. Brian said "The men of Erinn shall be well while that banner remains standing because their courage and valour shall remain in them all, as long as they can see that banner." At length Mu

le people. This, together with the fact that after the death of Brian no Irish king arose great enough to secure the

among those whose presence in Ireland was due to the efforts of the English sovereigns to subjugate that country, it is not to be expected that the native Irish should ever have taken kindly to a badge that could only remind them of their

ms of the Earl of Kildare and the other Geraldine families placed over their respective spheres of influence. The red saltire flag is flown at the masthead of a ship, possibly an Irish pirate, which is engaged in action in the St George's Channel with another ship flying the St George's cross. The St George's flag flies upon Cornwall,

an afterthought right at the end of the book) the green flag with St George's cross and the harp, illustrated in Plate X, fig. 3. The saltire flag is never

flag of 1658, as will be seen later, it was the harp that was added to the English and Scottish crosses to form a flag representative of the three kingdoms. At the funeral of Cromwell the Great

Order, and since this emblem was of convenient form for introduction into the Union flag of Engla

of Ireland in 1386, was azure, three crowns, or, and these are said to have been confirmed as the true arms of Ireland by a commission of enquiry under Edward IV. The harp, which appears to have been an ancient badge of Ireland, was formally adopted as the arms of that country by Henry VI

ntion in the State Papers of 1586[138] of an Irish ship attacking an English merchantman under the Scots flag, "showing forth a Skottish ensigne," and a passage in Dudley's voyage in 1594[139] from which it may be inferred that there was no recognised Irish flag at that date. In Feb. 1785, a brig

TNO

lesiastica, ii, 137. Fo

ndentes appropinquarent, Edelhun praecedens West sexenses, regis insig

h, vide Major, Early

orman Odda, Alfred being t

." Cf. the A. S. Chronicle, "t?r w?

, Life of

nae Anglorum En

ate II,

ate II,

of Dublin in 945. On his final expulsion from Northumbria in 952 he returned to Ireland, and after the

mi martyris Thebae legionis principis, quo idem rex in bello Hispano quamlibet in

pugnare videret (Edmund) loco regio relicto, quod erat ex more inter dracon

I, fig. 2

tribus...vexillum illud post victoriam papae misit Willelmus, quod erat

e Abbas in Dorset. Possibly both these figures are pre-Saxon. The horse, a favourite subject for

o, et tradisset draconem suum Petro de Pratellis ad portandum contra calumniam Ro

See p

Westmonaste

liot Smith, The Evolut

e Scots were led under the

s Garderobae 29 Edward I. This was print

urham (Surtees

ate I,

ate I,

ate I,

ring Gould in his Lives of the Saints shows goo

all of the Roman E

ould, Curious

quer Accou

, Summa C

ilia Magnae Britan

] I

and Lintels, 1904; Sussex Ar

ndam gentem suam signum evidens providerunt. Nam rex Franciae et gens sua cruces rubeas susceperunt, et re

et Coutume

tulus forinsecus de guerra Wallia

um et sudendum eorundem Bracerium et penuncellorum. ci s vi d. Item pro sex peciis telae de Aylesham emptis ad faciendum Braceria et penuncella pro peditibus Regis per manus eiusdem A. xx s. Item pro cl ulnis telae tinctae empt

colas, Siege

the Canterbury Tal

as, Roll of

enry Ch

hting against

affatus, ipsaque gratiae desuper concessae experientia, rerum cunctarum interpres optima, attestantur, in suo martyre gloriosissimo, beato Georgio, tanquam patrone et protectore dictae nationis speciali, summis tenentur attollere vocibus, laudibus personare praecipuis et spec

ted xvii July, but this is a

Black Book of the

Ibid.

equer Acco

9 and Marsden, Law and Custo

inédits sur l'histoire de France) i, 392, and in pa

equer Acco

equer Acco

Cott. Aug.

late I,

tt. Juli

f the Scots and other early Memorials of Sc

un signe devant et derrere cest assauoir une croiz blanche saint andrieu et se son Jacque soit bla

asurer of Scotland (Rolls Series),

] En

taffety of G

. cit. v

Ibid.

und with his Les Us

int Andre, au drap de gueles ou d'azur: portent aussi face de gueles

rs, however, to have

late X,

, Scottish K

rkney S

Reigns of Stephen, etc.

ad similitudinem draconis fi

ibly in St Brigit

sewhere

ogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh). Ed. with transl

late I,

stwich, R

nd ships from Waterford, Dublin, Youghal, Ross and Drogheda were supplied for the Flanders expedition in 1304. Some, perhaps all, of these ports were a

D. Eliz. c

See

ing of such a flag, if it did not imitate the British or other national colours, would not

pte

n Flags

o represent the people of England, and we have seen, though less clearly, how the white saltire on a blue ground became the chosen flag of the Scottish nation. It now remains

eth in March, 1603, the succ

Elizabeth lay dying was no scion of the Scottish House, but the eldest representative of the Suffolk line-Princess Mary's great-grandson, Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp. But Elizabeth's ministers were not the slaves of legal niceties. The Queen's neutrality left their choice unfettered; and though

V - Uni

ional jealousies ran high, especially in England, and James was foiled in his efforts to bring about the closer union he sought. Nevertheless, he was determined[142] that the union of the two

hat Flags South and North

all bear in their maintop the Red Cross, commonly called St George's Cross, and the White Cross, commonly called St Andrew's Cross, joined together, according to a form made by our Heralds and sent by Us to our Admiral to be published to our said Subjects[143]. And in their foretop Our Subjects of South Britain shall wear the Red Cross only

y of April in the 4th. year of our Reign of Gre

s; the "State Papers" themselves are but fragmentary remains; and the English Privy Council Registers from 1602 to 1613 were destroye

ars to have excited no attention except from those directly concerned with shipping. The royal and merchant navies were alike dwin

chosen in 1606 is to be found in the following appeal from th

nbu

ug.

haill and drawne through the Scottis Croce, whiche is thairby obscurit and no takin nor merk to be seene of the Scottis Armes. This will breid some heit and miscontentment betwix your Majesteis subjectis, and it is to be feirit that some inconvenientis sall fall oute betwix thame, for oure seyfairing men cannot be induceit to ressave that flag as it is set doun. They haif drawne two new drauchtis and patronis as most indifferent for boith kingdomes which they presented to the Counsell, and craved our approbatioun of the same; bot we haif reserved that to your Majesteis princelie determination,-as moir particularlie the Erll of Mar, who wes pre

ndly to the new flag and rarely used it until after the Legislative Union of 1707. Sir Edwar

ver, that examination of the available evidence will show that this border did not originate as a mere "fimbriation," that it was in fact part of the field of the English flag, and that the new flag was, as described by Sir James Balfour[146], "the flagis of St Andrew and St George interlaced," not merely the red cross surmounting the Scots flag. Material proof that

first quarter in the Great Seal of Scotland. Possibly a similar solution was suggested by the Scottish shipmasters. But there was a precedent for a closer union than this quartered form, which no doubt the heralds had in mind. Elizabeth had granted the Levant Company, by her charters of 1581 and 1592, the right to wear as a flag "the Armes of England with the redde crosse in white ov

his possession the Order from the Great Wardrobe directed to his father, Mr Thomas Knight, Arms Painter, who was to paint the banners and streamers required for the Prince. The principal flag was to be that shown in Plate V, fig. 1: "Imprimis in ye Prince's ship wherein he goes, on ye top ye Crosses of St. And

ery Lord Mayor's Day be seen born by some of ye Companies Barges, these flags b

er of Scotland is, however, sufficient t

ame "Union" earlier than 1625, when it appears in the list of the flags and banners used at the funeral of James I[151]. Three years later it appears in the Sailing Instru

St George, been flown equally by merchantman and man-of-war, strangers b

Union Flag

Hollanders seek to usurp upon his Majesties right[154]." Sir John Pennington, the "Admiral of the Narrow Seas," seized on this as an excuse to advocate a difference in the flags o

t under correction I conceive it to bee very materyall and much for his Mats Honor, and besides will free disputes with Strangers, for when

bable that there was a deeper underlying cause, jealousy of the mercantile marine. Be this as it may, Pennington's su

ll for our Navie Royall as for the Ships o

of any other of Our Subjects, doe hereby straitly prohibite and forbid that none of Our Subjects, of any of Our Nations and Kingdomes, shall from hencefoorth presume to carry the Union Flagge in the Maine toppe, or other part of any of their Ships (

eene used; And also that all the other ships of Our Subjects of Scotland or North Britaine shall from hencefoorth carry the White Crosse commonly called S. Andrews Crosse, Whereby the severall Shipping may thereby bee distinguished and

May in the tenth yeere of Our Reigne of England Sc

ing to the pill. The customs officers of the various ports could, of course, have provided any information desired relative to the shipping, and were not dependent on the flags for their knowledge

exceptional, at any rate in the English navy. An early instance was depicted in a contemporary picture in Cowdray Castle, since destroyed by fire, which represented "the encampment of the English forces near Portsmouth, together with a view of the English and French fleets at the commencement of the action between them on the 19th of July, 1545." In this picture, which fortunately was reproduced in an engra

it shalbe then convenient that upon or misson flagge-staves or th ende of or bowlesprits and that theare bee

"illustrations of the flagships of the Expedition of 1596 reproduced in the 'Nav

Corbett has pointed out[162] that the earliest instance of the use of the word "jack" to denote a flag occurs in the orders issued by Sir John Pennington to one of his captains

adron as Admiral of the Narrow Seas, charged especially with the duty of freeing the coa

matter for any small vessels to keepe the sea in such fowle weather, and the likelyest place for them to shelter in with these winds was Torbaye, for which place we stoode, causinge the 1

agship, is evidently the one given to the 10th Whelp[165]. It contains instruct

possible wee maie intrapp them. You are alsoe for this present service to ke

et become common, and this is fully confirmed by a passage added by Sir Nathaniel Boteler to one[167] o

at sea in the Ile de Ré

168] wh the Scottish, and called the Brittish flagge or Colours) save only such shyps as are either of his Maties owne or serve under his paye, and every such ve

the outcome of Pennington's request for instructions. It seems highly probable that it is to

m the merchant ships by this difference in their flags, although, as a distinct favour,

oclamation by the Scots of Charles' son as king the two governments fell into open enmity. In these circumstances the Union flag had become meaningless. On the 22nd of February the Parliament decreed that the "Admiralty" should be settled in the Council of State[170], an

d for this Summers fleet doe think fit to inform the Comtee of State therewith that so directions may be given what arms sh

te flag [172]," thus bringing the navy back to the old English flag and once more into line with the merchant shipping. The ro

cots ships were found "bearing either the red cross or the Armes heretofore called the King

England and Ireland. Although Ireland had been more or less under the rule of the kings of England from the time of Henry II, it was not until the accession of James I in 1603 that she had found recognition in the royal standard, and it remained for the Commonwealth to give

der for these cannot be found, but they are referred to in the following letter to the Committee

tle

e Issue depends on or resolution wee think needfull that you make up what you have allready sent, for orselves three Standards, or viceadmll and Rereadmll with the Admll Viceadmll & Rereadmll of Ireland three flag

ns were surrounded by green branches of laurel and bay. Fortunately, an actual specimen[178] has survived of this interesting flag, which was destined to

ch War[179]. Apparently this jack was also used by ships having letters of marque; "privateers" as we should now call them. In December, 1652, the captain of a small frigate, called the 'Helena,' fo

been abandoned, and a flag like the jack, with the harp and cross only, substituted for it[181],

wealth Parliament dated 12th April, 1654, and the cross of St Andrew was

ority aforesaid That the Arms of Scotland viz: a Cross commonly called Saint Andrews Cross be r

ed with St George's cross and the Irish harp, but it was not at once introduced in

the naval flags by the following order of th

the Great Seale of England; and that the Jack fflaggs for the fflagg officers of the ffleete and for the severall Shipps of Warre of his Highness be the Armes of England and Scotland united, according

1606, with the addition of a harp in the centre. The "model" has disappeared, like all its predecessors, and nothing remains to show for certain whether this harp was placed in a blue escutcheon as in the earlier Commonwealth flags or not, but since a request was

gurehead for a few months, was in the following May forced to abdicate. The remnant of the Long Parliament, which had just re-assembled, passed an "Act for the Great Seal of England" which restored the seal o

leet [185], "with Standards for the Naseby suitable to the Jacks now worne in the ffleete[186]." This

ient government, and a few days later, before Charles was publicly proclaimed, the Commissioners of the Admir

in use before 1648 and that they be sent downe with all speed to Generall Mountagu as alsoe that Carvers and Painters be appointed to goe down for the altering of the Carved workes according to such directions as they shall receive from Comr Pett, who is

flag-makers had evidently not had sufficient time to prepare the new royal standard, for

a fine sheet and that into the flag instead of the State's arms[189] which after dinner was finished and set up.... In the aftern

h sought after by merchant ships, and often assumed by them without warrant. For the next half century a long-drawn struggle was waged by the merchant shipping for the

overeign Lord and Brother, that from henceforward they forbear to wear the Flag of Union; and also acquaint them, tha

from those displaying it, the notices seem to have had so little effect that, on 19th Nov., when a royal proclamation was issued "For prohibiting

Majesties Colours in Merchant Ships, and doth Authorize and Command all Commanders and Officers of any His Majesties Ships of War not only to take from Merchants Ships all such

boatswains of the king's ships, just as the gunners embezzled and sold the powder, but the desire of the merchant shipping to fly the Union flag was not due to the fact that th

the practice for a time, but not entirely, for the

such Mars of Mercht Ships as sha

nce for so doing These are therefore to will and require you forthwith to goe down the River of Thames and examine and enquire what Merchant Ships either do or have lately Wore the Kings Jack not being hired nor carrying goods for His Matys Ser

Mayrs Sh

11th M

es[

lose imitation of the forbidden colours to deceive foreign powers[193] without falling within the strict letter of the law. In 1674 this practice had evidently becom

manifold Inconveniences; for prevention whereof for the future his Majesty hath thought fit, with the advice of his Privy Council, by this his Royal Proclamation, strictly to charge and command all his subjects whatsoever, that from henceforth they do not presume to wear his Majesty's Jack (commonly called The Union Jack) in any of their ships or vessels, without particular warrant for their so doing from his Majesty, or the Lord High Admiral of England, or the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral for the time bein

ng any merchants' ships or vessels of his Majesty's subjects wearing such a flag, jack, or ensign, contrary hereunto, whether at Sea or in Port, not only to cause such flag, jack or ensign to be forthwith seized, but to return the names of the said ships and

mission of Oyer and Terminer for the Admiralty, they give in charge, that strict enquiry be made of all offences in the premises, and that they cause all offenders therein to be duly punish

ighteenth Day of September 1674, in t

ajesty's

ernor of Dover "to have the liberty of wearing his Majts Jack upon his private yacht" was refused by the king in Council[195], but the practice of hoisting the Union J

e 20th of Septr 1686 upon occasion of the liberty taken

ations to this Liberty (be

they are freed by i

d from paying the Duty of 50 Sous by Tun paid

below Gravesend to any ship or vessel carrying t

g Colours in Boats? And the Budgee[197] Jack now familiarly used abroad (as lately by St Loe [198]) being the Union Jack in a Canton upon a Red Flag." It will be seen from this note that it was of similar design to the red ensign

to that of 1674, was issued forbidding merchant ships, except those having letters of marque, to wear other colours than the "Flag and Jack white with a Red Cross commonly called St George's Cross passing quite through

l terms was issued in the first

y complained to the Council of "the inconvenience by Merchant Ships wearing the King's Colours in and among the Plantations abroad, under colour of Commissions from the Govern

our own Subjects, but also those of other Princes and States, and Committing divers Irregularities, they do very much dishonour our Service-For prevention whereof you are to oblige the Commanders of all such Ships, to which you shall grant Commissions, to wear no other Jack than acc

s the queen thought fit. After due consideration of various designs suggested by a Committee of the Privy Council in conjunction with the Heralds College, it was finally decided by an Order in Council of 17th April, 1707, "That the Union Flag continu

ion was made in the Ensign; the English and Scots navies being now uni

n the ensign the fight practically came to an end. Before long the general introduction of fore and aft headsails led to the disappearance of the sprit topmast on which the jack had been displa

ritain and Ireland was to take effect from the first day of the new century, and by the first of the Articles of Union the "Ensigns, Armo

tered according to the Draft thereof marked (C) in which the Cross of St George is conjoined with the Cros

as issued on the 1st Ja

rterly per Saltire, counterchanged Argent and Gules; the latter fimbriated of the Second

the counterchanged saltires[208]. This drawing and the verbal blason of it above recited, were supplied to the Council by Sir Isaac Heard, the Garter King-at-Arms, and since in so important a matter he is not likely to have been guilty of carelessness, while there is no question of incompetence, it is clear tha

not for the importance of this flag and the confusion

but it is a fact that the Union flag is never ma

s of British nationality, the Irish saltire is reduced in width by having its fimbriation taken from itself instead of from the blue ground. Apparently this has been done to bring the out

roclamation of 1st January, 1801, as interpreted by modern heraldic definitions[211]. In this pattern the two saltires are of e

small Union flag intended to be flown in one particular place, the bows of one of H.M. ships: yet for many years past this technical distinction has been lost sight of[212] and the mis

s a pendant which combined the colours of the Union flag and which, like that flag, was to be flown only by H.M. ships. It was afterwards known as the "Ordinary" or "Common" Pendant[214]. It went out o

TNO

ge Modern His

James's natural vanity and his jealousy of anything th

red from a signet warrant of James I, and now in part illegible, is to be found in S. P. D. Jas I, App. xxxv, 23, misplaced among the papers of 1603. The deleted ninth and

containing the entry of the above Proclamation in the Syllabus to Rymer's Foedera, has stated that there

f the Privy Council

touching metal, and, according to modern heraldic rules, it should be as narro

otland (s.v. 1606),

e seventeenth century mss., one of the most important of these being the Flag Bo

See

MSS., Misc

A Survey of the present riggi

wh the kings armes

ag of 15 cloth

e of 12 bread

"the Banner of the Union with

rom ye Admll of the fleete and see ye Union fflagg in ye misne sh

ohn Pennington, 26th March, 1639. "And when you see

weak that other nations saw no longer any reason to

D. Chas I,

l's warrant to the Attorney General dir

last voyage," by Dr Jules Sotta

ably about

of these notes see The Naval Tracts of Sir Wm Monson, edited by Mr Oppenhe

r's Mirror,

ords Society,

uctions 1530-1816 (N

. 2682. The copy was

SS. Com. Report x

uilt in 1628. They were small craft, of the "Pin

were ordered to take down their topgallan

ed "of the Flagge called the Jacke." It does not occur in Sloan

sing this wor

at sea on the royalist side until the Pa

ct was, however, dated 23rd. See Acts an

n MS. A 224. The ent

e letter to the Navy Commissioners the w

s not appear to have been immediately ac

Ibid.

2, p. 53. See Pl

1649, usually known as the "Generals at Sea." They stood in much the same position as that formerly occupied by the late Lord High Admiral, the Earl of Wa

P. D. Int

from time immemorial, but was recently loaned by the Admiralty to the Royal United Service Institution, where it may now

d J. A. Beerstraten, Zeeslag by ter Heide 1653, in the Rijks Mus

elating to the First Dutch

olors wth ye field Red, 4 fflags of ye Jack colors." Cf. also Instructions of Vice Adm. Goodson to Penn 21 June, 1655: "You shall wear the jack-flag

D. Inter. i,

s best adapted to admit of this surcharge, as the

ers to the pre-Commonwealth flags still in store, as the Parliament

int commission with M

. This standard was the same as

Ibid.

ry, 13th

r the escutcheons conta

English Affairs, ch

M. 1851,

Lib. D'Eon

me of the "union flags" flown by foreign men-o

rinity House of L

MSS. Misce

6]

one of the most important seaports in North Africa, but in the seventeenth century it was fast falling into decay, and beyond the fact that the A

George

l, besides the colours which may be worn by Merchants' ships, wear a Red Jack, with the Union Jack described in a

, 1694. B. M.

1702. London

te V, fig. 6,

ile of the Union flag as therein depicted. It will be seen that the St George's cross has a comparatively

28th July, 1707, Lo

on Gazette

cond colour named

e. gules

ich is a reproduction of the original draw

e Plate

uestion how this came to repr

he War Office on ceremonial day

nteenth century the Union flag was ra

of His Majesty's Government, in t

rdinary or Union Pendant us

pte

of C

ROYAL

ed to denote the leader of a British fleet comes the

before noting the occasions on which it has been flown for this purp

nt in pale which have remained in the arms of England until the present day. In 1339 Edward III, angered at the assistance given by Philip of France to the King of Scotland, took steps to assert a claim to the throne of France, and, in earnest of this, in January, 1340, he formally assumed the title and

- Royal

impaled the arms of Spain. About the year 1411 Henry IV, in imitation of the change made by Charles V in his arms, reduced the fleurs-de-lis to three in number. On the accession of James I it became necessary to add the arms of Scotland (or, a lion rampant within a double tressure flory and counterflory, gules) and

arpe being no more the Armes of that Kingdome or of any one from whence that King was lineally descended than any other Constellation or any of ye Signes of the Zodiack. Having often contemplated this, ye only satisfaction I could forme to myselfe was from ye tempe

entative of the whole country. Placing the arms quarterly of France and England in the first and fourth quarters of his shield, James put those of Scotland in the second quarter and those of Ireland in the third. This arrangement was, however, not invariab

4 the cross of St George, 2 the cross of St Andrew, and 3 the Irish harp, with an inescutcheon of the arms of Cromwell (sable a lion rampant, argent)[220]. The Commonwealth standard came back

een succinctly described by

impaled the same coat without the inescutcheon for his wife. At her death the impalement was dropped. After the Union with Scotland in 1707 the arms of England (Gules, three lions, etc.) were impaled with

ules, two lions passant guardant in pale or; 2. Luneberg, or, semé of hearts gules, a lion rampant azure; 3. (in point), Westphalia, gules a hor

utcheon decided upon at that date was: Quarterly, 1 and 4, England; 2. Scotland; 3. Ireland, and the arms of Hanover were placed upon an

e inescutcheon of Hanover disappeared from the Royal Arms of this country, and by Royal Warrant issued at the beginning

- Royal

ships, royal and merchant. By the addition, in January, 1340, of the arms of France, Edward III adopted a royal standard that could no longer be regarded in this light. Yet although the royal standard now became more peculiarly the personal ensign of the king it is clear, from the frequency with which this flag occurs in inventories of ships' stores, that its use was not

h fleet, dates from this period, and that it contained the royal arms, with angelic supporters, or impaled with the cross of St George, and that from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century this "banner" was the royal standard[222]. But the most prominent position for a flag worn in a ship is at the masthead, and it would see

s et parés de banières et d'estramières très rices, ouvrées et armoiies des armes de France et d'Engleterre esquartelées

explains that it was by these flags that the French knew the king was himself present. "Bien veoie

to fly the royal banners and flags: "plenam ac liberam authoritatem, facultatem et potestatem navigandi ad omnes partes

ad are those of 1545, at the end of Henry VIII's reign. "Item the Lord Admiral shall beare one banner

with the Marquis (afterwards Duke) of Buckingham, Howard (then Earl of Nottingham) resigned the office, which was transferred to the Marquis. Buckingham made his first appearance at

agg wth ye Kings

e Princes Armes & ye

retop wth the Pri

of 24 breadthes w

breadthes wth

readthes wth ye Lo

Ld Admiralls Bad

at one of the other standards was for Buckingham[229]. The Earl of Rutland was in command of this fleet on its

an the Lord High Admiral when in command of fleets. Wimbledon wore it in the Cadiz Expedition of 1625, and no less than £36 (equivalent to about £400 to-day) was spent on "the great silke fflagg wth his Mats Armes guilded wth fyne gould and wrought wth oyle Collrs," and it was worn by the Earl of Denbigh in 1628: but when the Earl of Lindsey, who had been appointed one of the Commissioners for the Admiralty af

1648 the fleet he commanded lay off the Dutch coast, watching the royalist fleet under the command of Prince Charles. When the Prince summoned Warwick to take down his standard the Earl replied: "I am appointed by both Houses of the Parliament of England to be Lord High Admiral of

e Rupert, and in order that the Parliamentary Naval forces might not have the

Hyde to Pri

27 Jan

dmiral of England; & when I enquired of the order granted for the Lord Willoughby or Sir William Batten's wearing it, it is said, that it was thought then necessary, since the Earl of Warwick wore a standard, that whosoever commanded the fleet that was to fight against him, should wear one, lest the seamen

dard with the royal arms. In this "standard," which was really only a modification of the "union" flag, the English lions were replaced by the St George's cross, the Scottish and French arms disappeared, and only those of Ireland remained. This upstart flag soon acquired an honour in battle that had been sadly lacking to the old one since 1588, for it waved over the heroic fights of the First Dutch War and t

as the Lord Admiral's flag, but with the anchor flag as a substitute when the pre

s arms impaled with the Stuart royal arms, with the legend "For the Protestant Religion and the Liberties of England" above the escutcheon and his motto "je maintiendray

, reached its culmination in 1702, when the anchor flag definitely superseded it as the Lord Admiral's flag, although, curiou

High Admiral by William III, had given instructions for his flagship, the 'Britannia,' then fitting out at Chatham in preparation for t

forbear doing thereof, but you are to cause to be prepar'd for me as soon as conveniently may be, so many of these flags[236] which par

istence of the royal standard as a

he Lord High Admiral (the Duke of York) in 1672 are given in the Journal of Sir John Na

ngland, and at the Fore topmasthead a silk Flagg Red with a yellow anchor and cable in the Fly: and at the mizen topmasthead a Union Flagg. These we wore all flying while the King was aboard: But when the King went out of the Ship and l

s caused the Standard to be struck when the King's Standard was in sight, and when the King was on board the Standard was hoisted a

d a Standard flying at the head of the Prince's Main topmasthead Flaggstaff, and his R.H. the anchor Flagg

hen His Majesty came within two miles of the Prince his R.H. commanded the Standard to be struck until such time as his Majesty came on board. At the striking of

E ADMIR

the decoration of his ship on ceremonial occasions. Its use for such a purpose would be analogous with the display, in the fourteen

een brought to light in England[239]. It may, however, be presumed that it was in use south of the Tweed from an earlier date, for the anchor was certainly in use in the sixteenth century as a mark placed upon ships or goods arrested by the Admiralty Court. The earliest known insta

own engraving supposed to represent the 'Ark Royal,' Howard's flagship in 158

623 Buckingham, who had succeeded Nottingham as Lord High Admiral, was provided with "an Ensigne with ye Ld Admiralls Badge & Motto." This badge was evidently the anchor and cable, for the badge of the foul anchor appears prominently four times on the York Water Gate (Thames Embankment) built for Bucki

bly of the same design as in Buckingham's seal, for the Commissioners had adopted this form for use in their own seal, replacing the coronet and garter by the legend "Sig. Com. Reg. Ma. Pro. Adm. Ang[243]." It will be observed that the field of this flag is red, as at the present day. The anchor wit

r round the anchor, ending at the ring on the side opposite to that at which it was made fast. This design was used by the Committee of the Admiralty and Navy under the Commonwealth and was adopted by James Duke of York in 1660[244], but in t

ing the Standard and Ensigne and Jack with a ancor," £5. 10s. "ffor sowing silke and cloth for the sockett and markeing the Ensigne

flown at the masthead as a substitute for the royal standard when the Lord Admira

efore his death, revoked the commission, and the office fell in to the crown. When the Duke of York succeeded to the throne in 1685 as Jam

s the main is already occupied by the royal standard) a flag of similar design, but with

of Scotland, who according to Pepys[249] was "no officer of State" and had "no precedence at all given him from his office," was abolished after

would have flown the royal standard in his flagship. William, however, died on 8th March, and Queen Anne, immediately after her accession, deprived the Lord High Admiral of the right to fly the standard, among other perquisites and droits. Pembroke then gave instructions for the anchor flag to be supplied instead. But as he was not a seaman his proposal to take command of the

I - Admir

for a few weeks at the end of March and beginning of April. The next occasion on which this flag was flown in executive command at sea occurred in July, 1828, when the Duke of Clarence (afterwards William IV), who had been appointed Lord High Admiral in 1827, with the express understanding that he should exercise no military command, suddenly put to sea from Plymouth, flying the anchor flag, in command of a squadron of manoeuvre that it had been intended to place under Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood. This extraordinary escapade and the friction which had been caused by the duke's method of conducting affairs, led to his removal, and to the office being once more placed in comm

wers are derived; the anchor flag being flown at the fore, the royal standard at the main, and the Union flag at the mizen. In the Admiralty yacht the anchor flag is flown at the main when members of the Board are embarked in her. It is the custom (a custom t

DMIRALS

Rere Admiral in the Missen-top, with the Crosses or Colours of their Nation and Countrymen, And thus far it is usu

which had been made possible by the appearance of the three-masted ship of war in the fifteenth century, was adopted by the

er nearest the truth would be: "nothing, for there were then no grades to distinguish." Before the sixteenth century there was rarely more than one admiral in a fleet, and on those rare occasions on which two or more admirals appear they were usually given the comman

flown a flag at the masthead, for we are told by a contemporary chronicler[252] that one of Hubert de Burgh's men agreed, when they

ke an incursion into Gascony, but after a false start which had been frustrated by contrary winds, the king, on the advice of Godefroy de

arvich, et volt estre amiraus pour ce voiage, et se mist tout

de for only one admiral, who is to bear two flags; one at the main and the other at the fore, while all the other ships are to bear one at the mizen. The orders drawn up by Lisle fifteen years later provide for a fleet divided into three squadrons,

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