Courtesy Flags

Last modified: 2005-07-30 by phil nelson
Keywords: courtesy flag | panama | united states |
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• General Information
• Origins
• Courtesy flags in Panama Canal during Cold War era

See also:

• FOTW Vexillological Reference
• FOTW Topical Index

I can describe the practice of the US Navy which, broadly speaking is followed by navies around the world.

Flags of nationality (national ensign and jack) are flown as follows.

1. When the ship is moored or anchored, the Union Jack is flown from the *jack staff* at the bow of the ship and the National Ensign is flown from the *ensign staff* at the stern of the ship.
2. When the ship is underway, the National Ensign is flown from the ship's principal mast (for ships with two masts, this is the mainmast).

The US National Ensign is simply the Stars and Stripes. The US jack is called, somewhat confusingly, the Union Jack because it is actually the canton or "union" of the US flag, i.e. a dark blue flag with fifty stars. The US Navy rule is that the Union Jack should be the same size as the canton of the National Ensign with which it is flown.

Generally a courtesy ensign is flown from a ship's mast. When the ship is entering or leaving port and flying its own ensign at the mast, the courtesy ensign is flown at a slightly lower level. (For ships with two or more masts, I believe, the courtesy ensign is flown from the foremast and the ship's own ensign is flown from the mainmast.) When the ship is moored or anchored, the courtesy ensign remains at the mast while the ship's own ensign and jack are flown from their staffs at bow and stern. If the host nation has a distinctive merchant ensign, this is what is used as the courtesy ensign.

No doubt there are many variation