Hi, all.
I'm wondering; The British Royal Navy had multiple ensigns at one point; blue, white and red, depending on the admiral or station of the ship in question I believe.
I wonder, did any other nation have multiple naval ensigns? If so, why? I don't even know why the RN had three ensigns.
Ensigns, or: What is that Flag?
Ensigns, or: What is that Flag?
I will ask all the questions on all things floaty.
- marcelo_malara
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Re: Ensigns, or: What is that Flag?
duplicte
Last edited by marcelo_malara on Tue May 30, 2023 3:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- marcelo_malara
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- Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:14 pm
- Location: buenos aires
Re: Ensigns, or: What is that Flag?
The big fleets of the age of sail, after the introduction of the line of battle about 1650, were divided in three divisions, the main, the van and the rear, The command of the fleet was given to an admiral, he commanded the whole fleet and the main division. Second in command of the whole and commanding the van was the vice admiral. And third in command of the whole and commanding the rear was (adequately named) the rear admiral. Each had its own flag.AThompson wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 8:45 am Hi, all.
I'm wondering; The British Royal Navy had multiple ensigns at one point; blue, white and red, depending on the admiral or station of the ship in question I believe.
I wonder, did any other nation have multiple naval ensigns? If so, why? I don't even know why the RN had three ensigns.
For sure the Dutch used a similar system. Do not know other navies, but there were not many that could bolsters such a number of ships. Mr Byron Angel is knowledgeable about the era and can add more to this.
Re: Ensigns, or: What is that Flag?
An example for the French in the 18th Century:
"For large fleets divided into squadrons, the admirals of the van displayed a flag horizontally divided, white over blue, admirals of the center squadron displayed the white flag, and admirals of the rear squadron had plain blue flags."
From here:
https://tmg110.tripod.com/royfr8.htm
"For large fleets divided into squadrons, the admirals of the van displayed a flag horizontally divided, white over blue, admirals of the center squadron displayed the white flag, and admirals of the rear squadron had plain blue flags."
From here:
https://tmg110.tripod.com/royfr8.htm
Re: Ensigns, or: What is that Flag?
That's interesting, thank you. I've never seen any of those ensigns. Every painting or artwork you see of a French warship during the Revolution/Napoleonic period just shows a tri-colour ensign, but that link shows a white flag with a tri-colour in the canton. I wonder what's happening there, then.NCC1717 wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 10:57 pm An example for the French in the 18th Century:
"For large fleets divided into squadrons, the admirals of the van displayed a flag horizontally divided, white over blue, admirals of the center squadron displayed the white flag, and admirals of the rear squadron had plain blue flags."
From here:
https://tmg110.tripod.com/royfr8.htm
Tangent: NCC1717, that's Yorktown, isn't it?
I will ask all the questions on all things floaty.
Re: Ensigns, or: What is that Flag?
AThompson, regarding your tangent.
I have always used the names and hull numbers from the Franz Joseph Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual rather than the other sources due the the large numbers of Gamescience DN/CA/DD/Scout and Tug models I have built. In that book 1717 is the Defiance. I also wrote computer games in the 70's and 80s using that name.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/St ... cal_Manual
https://ncc1717.com/model-railways/star ... s-by-type/
I have always used the names and hull numbers from the Franz Joseph Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual rather than the other sources due the the large numbers of Gamescience DN/CA/DD/Scout and Tug models I have built. In that book 1717 is the Defiance. I also wrote computer games in the 70's and 80s using that name.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/St ... cal_Manual
https://ncc1717.com/model-railways/star ... s-by-type/