Civil ensign

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The civil ensign (also known as merchant flag or merchant ensign) is the national flag flown by civil ships (merchant ships and others) to denote nationality.

Beside the naval ensign, the civil ensign is one of the two original types of the national flag. In most countries there was originally no distinction between the flag for armed state ships (navy) and civilian-owned, unarmed ships (merchant marine). Today many countries follow the practice of the USA and France in having only one flag for all or most purposes of the national flag.

In several countries, however, this distinction has developed and was later adopted by other countries as well. Most notable for the elaborate flag system is the United Kingdom, that has (inter alia) the Red Ensign for civilian ships and the White Ensign for the Royal Navy.

[edit] Countries having specific civil ensigns

The civil ensigns that are different from the "general" national flag, can be grouped into a number of categories.

[edit] Red Ensigns after the British pattern

These are red flags with, in most cases, the respective national flag or Union Flag in the canton, patterned after the British Red Ensign. British overseas territories either fly the plain Red Ensign or a Red Ensign with the respective colonial arms in the fly.

United Kingdom^[1]

Guernsey (UK)

Isle of Man (UK)

British Virgin Islands (UK)

Falkland Islands (UK)

Gibraltar (UK)

Cayman Islands (UK)

Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)

Australia^[2]

United Arab Emirates^[3]

Sri Lanka

[edit] Civil ensign that vary greatly from the national flag

Several countries have civil ensign that are very different from the national flag, for instance Malta and Luxembourg.

[edit] Civil ensigns consisting of the national flag with an additional emblem

Well-known examples are the Italian civil ensign showing the shield with the arms of the sea republics or the Polish civil ensign with the arms of Poland. Most of these emblems were added to distinguish the ensign from similar flags of other countries.

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Colombia

El Salvador

Italy

Morocco^[4]

Poland

Saudi Arabia

Republic of China^[5]

Spain

United States(Domestic Waters Only - Unofficial)

Finland (Yacht Club Vessels Only - the circled X is replaced with the club emblem)

[edit] Simplified national flags

In several (mostly Latin American) countries there are two main versions of the flag, a simpler one (usually a striped flag) and a more elaborated one with the national arms. The simpler one is used as civil ensign (and in most cases also as civil flag), whereas the version with the arms is mainly used by the government and the military. Interestingly this is similar to the practice in Germany, Austria. In Spain the flag without the arms is only a variant for civil use; the national flag is used also as a civil ensign.^[6]

[edit] Civil ensigns differing from the national flag in the proportions

Several former British colonies use 1:2 as a proportion for their ensigns, whereas 3:5 is used for flags ashore. The countries of former Yugoslavia have it the other way round: the ensigns are 2:3, flags ashore are 1:2. France is a special case: the overall proportion is the same, but the bands on the ensign differ in width slightly.