British Flags
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 narrootland (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,