Historical Flags 1701-1785 (Spain)

Last modified: 2005-03-05 by santiago dotor
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• Introduction (Ensigns 1670s-1785)
• Size of Ensigns 15th-19th Centuries
• State and War Ensign 1701-1759
• State and War Ensign 1759-1785
• Flags of the three Naval Squadrons 1732-1760 (Royal Order of 20th January 1732):
  • Flag of the Cádiz Squadron 1732-1760
  • Flag of the Cartagena Squadron 1732-1760
  • Flag of the Ferrol Squadron 1732-1760
• Blue Civil Ensigns used until 1762
• Royal Banner 1700-1759
• Royal Banner 1761-1931
• Military Flags 1701-1843
• Unidentified flag reported in Encyclopaedia Britannica 1771

See also:

• Burgundy Cross Flag (ensign 1506-1670s, thereafter Jack until 1785)
• Historical Flags (Spain)
• Spain

Introduction (Ensigns 1670s-1785)

I recently saw a facsimile copy of a 1752 book on shipbuilding, with large illustrations showing different views of a contemporary vessel. The stern view showed two ensigns, apparently flying from two halyards on the same pole:

• One was an enormous, almost square ensign (about as high as the ship itself, without the masts) showing the Burgundy cross on a clear field (probably white). The cross was of the naturalistic variety i.e. in the shape of two crossed branches, and did not reach the corners.
• The second one was about half as high, and showed the royal arms on a clear, again probably white, field.

Santiago Dotor, 18 October 2000

At that time there was a change on the ensigns used by Spanish ships, as Charles II (1665-1700) started flying his royal arms as an ensign instead of the Burgundy cross. Philip V (1701-1746) definitely dropped the Burgundy cross even from his royal arms.

My guess is that the red Burgundy cross over white was still used as a jack and the royal arms over white as ensign. From a stern view, maybe the drawing shows both and on different levels to be able to distinguish them? I just checked a very good book called El Buque en la Armada Española (The Ship in the Spanish Navy), Silex Ediciones, Madrid 1999, ISBN 84-7737-084-2, which has about the same thing described by Santiago Dotor —different proportions, though— in a drawing on p. 189 of the ship Africa, built in 1752.

Gradually, the usage of the white flag with red Burgundy cross came to an end, even as a secondary flag, and in 1785 the problematic usage of white ensigns with symbols (Burgundy cross and/or royal arms) was solved by introducing the current red-gold-red ensign.

José Carlos Alegría, 18 October 2000

I wonder whether the white flag with the royal achievement was used at all as an ensign before Cha