The
civil ensign (also known as
merchant flag or
merchant ensign) is the
national flag flown by civil ships (merchant ships and others, as opposed to military) to denote nationality. Countries may have a national flag for most purposes on land, a distinct civil ensign for non-military ships, and a naval ensign for the navy; sometimes two or all of these flags are identical.
In most countries there was originally no distinction between the flag for armed state ships (navy) and civilian-owned, usually unarmed ships (merchant marine). Today many countries, including the USA and France, continue the practice of having a single national flag for all or most purposes.
In other countries a distinction is made between the land flag and the civil and naval ensigns. Most notable for the elaborate flag system is the United Kingdom, that uses the Union flag on land, (inter alia) the Red Ensign for civilian ships, and the White Ensign for the Royal Navy.
Countries having specific civil ensigns
The civil ensigns that are different from the "general" national flag, can be grouped into a number of categories.
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.
Civil ensign that vary greatly from the national flag
Several countries have civil ensigns that are very different from the national flag, for instance
Malta and
Luxembourg.
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.
Simplified national flags
In several (Spain and much of Spanish Latin America, and some European) countries there are two main versions of the flag, a simpler one (usually a striped flag) and a more elaborate 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. In
Spain and
Argentina the flag without the arms is only a variant for civil use; the national flag is used also as a civil ensign. In
Ecuador, the civil ensign also differs from the national flag in the proportions.
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.
See also
Civil air ensign
Remarks
Category:Ensigns
Category:Vexillology
