Plain Blue Ensign
Prior to the reorganisation of the Royal Navy in 1864, the plain blue ensign had been the ensign of one of three squadrons of the Royal Navy, the Blue Squadron. This changed in 1864, when an order in council provided that the Red Ensign was allocated to merchantmen, the Blue Ensign was to be the flag of ships in public service or commanded by an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve, and the White Ensign was allocated to the Navy.
Thus, after 1864, the plain blue ensign is permitted to be worn, instead of the Red Ensign, by two categories of civilian vessel:
- British merchant vessels whose officers and crew include a certain number of retired Royal Navy personnel or Royal Navy reservists, or are commanded by an officer of the Royal Naval Reserve in possession of a Government warrant. The number and rank of such crew members required has varied over the years, as have the additional conditions required, since the system was first introduced in 1864.
- Yachts belonging to members of certain long-established British yacht clubs, such as the Royal Engineers Yacht Club, The Royal Motor Yacht Club, and the Royal Northern & Clyde Yacht Club. Yachts belonging to members of certain long-established Canadian yacht clubs, such as, Cape Breton Yacht Club, Champlain Yacht Club, Montreal Yacht Club, Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Royal Kennebaccasis Yacht Club, Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club, Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club, Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, and Royal Victoria Yacht Club. Permission for yachts to wear the blue ensign (and other special yachting ensigns) was suspended during both World War I and World War II.
Read more about this topic: Blue Ensign
Famous quotes containing the words plain, blue and/or ensign:
“If the Almighty had intended for you to be rich, he’d have taken care of that a long time ago. The idea of you being rich, that’s plain blasphemy.”
—Robert Rossen (1908–1966)
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—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“How oft when men are at the point of death
Have they been merry! which their keepers call
A lightning before death: O, how may I
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Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:
Thou art not conquered; beauty’s ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
And death’s pale flag is not advanced there.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)