Chapter V: Colours of Distinction (1)

Boteler, in his _Dialogues_, reminds us that "Flaggs (to speake properly) are only those which are borne out in the Topps of Shyps, and they serve as Badges, and that as well for the distinguishing of Nations as Commanders ... the others are named the Colours or Ensigns and Pendants." To these was added in 1633, while he was writing these Dialogues, the jack, or small Union flag flown at the bowsprit, which, with the ensign and pendant, completed the "suit of colours" for a ship of war. The differentiation by this means of the various classes of public and private ships reached its culminating point by the middle of the nineteenth century. At that period British ships were divided into five categories, each with its own special flags of distinction, according to their employment, as:

1 Public ships of war.
2 Private men-of-war.
3 Public ships for uses other than war.
4 Merchant ships.
5 Pleasure craft.

Since that date the "colours" of the first of these five classes (and incidentally those of the third and fourth classes) have been simplified by the abandonment of the squadronal colours in 1864, while the second class has disappeared in consequence of the abolition of privateering by the Declaration of Paris in 1856.

(i) PUBLIC SHIPS OF WAR

The Distinction Colours proper to a British ship of war are the Pendant, Ensign and Jack. Of these three flags the pendant (or streamer, as it was originally named) is by far the most ancient, dating back to the days when there was no rigid distinction between public and private men-of-war, when every ship owned by an Englishman was, in the eyes of the law, the king's ship, and might be requisitioned for his use at a moment's notice and, with the aid of a few planks and balks of timber, be converted into an efficient ship-of-war, with fore and after castle and fighting-top complete. Besides such "castles" a ship, devoted for the time being to warlike purposes, whether in a national or semi-private quarrel, had as a distinctive mark, from the end of the thirteenth century onwards (and probably from an even earlier date) a huge streamer displayed from the masthead, or hung from the fighting-top, and often reaching down to the water.

These colours, first the pendant, then from 1634 to 1864 the pendant and jack, and finally all three of them together, have served to distinguish ships "of war" from ships not fitted out for war, but the pendant and ensign, with occasional assistance from a masthead flag, have also served for a secondary distinction within the main category "of war," namely, that tactical distinction of lesser groups among a collected body of ships of war which may be termed squadronal distinction.

Squadronal distinction colours were the outcome of the development of naval tactics. So long as a battle between two opposing fleets of any size is to be fought pell mell, like a gigantic football scrimmage, there is obviously no need for other flags than such as mark out the two opposing parties, with perhaps the addition of special flags of command to denote the ships of the two leaders. But directly the attempt is made to bring intelligence to bear as well as courage and brute force, to derive advantage from superior skill in manoeuvring, and to use the ship itself as an actual weapon instead of a mere transport to carry opposing warriors into touch with each other, it becomes necessary to co-ordinate the movements of the various ships under the direction of some master mind. If these ships are few in number their movements can be readily directed from one centre; but if they are many, experience shows that the whole fleet must be divided into distinct parts (called squadrons) of which the principal one will remain under the direct control of the commander of the whole fleet, while each of the others is placed under the immediate control of a subordinate commander, who is directly in touch with the Commander-in-Chief and acquainted with his intentions and wishes.

It then becomes necessary to furnish the ships comprising the various squadrons with some means whereby they may be readily distinguished should they become separated, or should the fleet fall into temporary disorder.

Among the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans this appears occasionally to have been provided for by painting some part of the ship in a distinctive colour[297], but this method has the disadvantage that the ships of the various squadrons are not readily interchangeable, and it appears to have gone out of use before the Christian era.

With the passing of the great days of the Greek states the art of sea warfare suffered an eclipse from which it did not recover for many centuries, and we meet with no further indication of the existence of fleets organised in squadrons until the thirteenth century of our era. The proper stimulus for the development of the art of fleet tactics can only be supplied by the collision of two maritime powers of fairly equal intelligence and resources. This condition was first supplied by the rivalry of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice for the sea-borne trade of the Mediterranean.

The great fleet fitted out by Genoa in 1242 affords one of the earliest recorded instances (perhaps the earliest) of a tactical division into squadrons by means of flags. The circumstances have already been related, and it will be remembered that the squadron leaders were then distinguished by flags appropriate to the district from which they had been selected. This method is evidently insufficient, for although it enables the individual ships of a squadron to recognise their leader, it does not enable that leader to distinguish his own ships in the confusion of battle. The next step is to distinguish the individual ships by suitable flags according to their squadrons. We do not know when this step was taken, but it appears from the Instructions issued by Amadeo of Savoy in 1366 to the combined fleet under his orders[298] that each galley then carried the standard of the Commune whence it came, so that it is possible that the galleys were at that time organised in squadrons according to their respective Communes. At the great Battle of Lepanto in 1571, which marked the culmination of galley tactics, the combined fleet under the command of Don John of Austria was divided into squadrons with distinguishing pendants.

The first division or right wing numbered fifty-four galleys,
and was commanded by Giovanni Andrea Doria, whose galley was
distinguished by a broad green pennant at the peak of the mainyard,
smaller pennants of the same colour being displayed in the same
position by the other vessels of the division. The centre, under
Don John of Austria, consisted of sixty-four galleys, with blue
pennants flying at the masthead. The left wing of fifty-three
galleys was commanded by Agostino Barbarigo, and was marked by
yellow banderoles on the foreyard, that of the leader flying at
the peak of the mainyard. A rearguard or reserve followed the line
of battle, and was composed of thirty galleys under the Marquis of
Santa Cruz. They displayed white pennants from a flagstaff over the
stern lamp[299].

But in the stormy seas of northern Europe the galley never became naturalised, and it was long before the teaching of the school of tactics that had grown up in connection with it came to be applied to the larger vessels required for the navigation of these waters. The fleet under Hubert de Burgh, which in 1217 put an end to Lewis the Dauphin's hopes of adding the Crown of England to that of France, made use of only elementary tactics, though indeed these proved amply sufficient, and very little advance had been made three centuries and a half later, when the Spanish Armada was crushed and driven away from the shores of England[300].

No attempt appears to have been made to divide an English fleet into squadrons with distinctive signs until the reign of Henry VIII. After the rather unsatisfactory battle with the French fleet off Portsmouth in July, 1545, Henry, who was of no mean ability in naval affairs[301], had evidently seen the need for better organisation, for when the fleet put into the Channel to deter the French from raiding the Sussex coast it was divided into three divisions distinguished by having the English flag at different mastheads, as is shown by the orders issued for the occasion:

... every ship appoynted to the battaill shall beare one flag
of saint George's crosse in his mayne toppe ... and every ship
appoynted to the vanward shall beare one flag of sainte George's
crosse in his fore toppe ... and every Shipp Galliasse pynnesse and
Shalupe appoynted to the wyng shall have in ther mesyn toppe one
flag of saint George's crosse[302].

This seems to have been the only occasion on which an English fleet was divided into squadrons distinguished by means of the same flag flown at different mastheads. In two years from that date Henry was dead, and the organisation of the navy sustained a set-back from which it took many years to recover. It was not until the results of the first day's fighting against the Spanish Armada in 1588 had shown the necessity for better organisation that any further attempt was made to divide the fleet into squadrons. There is no indication in the State Papers of the steps then taken to mark the squadrons, but from the fact that the arrangement was impromptu and that there was no time available for providing special colours it is probable that only the squadron leaders were distinguished by their flags.

In his expedition against Lisbon in the following year Drake made an attempt to remedy the prevailing want of method.

The Armada campaign, as we have seen, had taught the sailors the
danger of entirely discarding the old military methods; they had
learnt the strength that the Spaniards gained by their squadronal
system, and under the soldiers' influence we find an elaborate
scheme for "squadronising" the fleet that is something entirely
new, and obviously founded on the existing military system[303].

Here, again, we know nothing of the method adopted to distinguish the squadrons, but it seems to have been largely a paper one.

Such was the first attempt to remedy the vices of the radical
revolution which the sailor-admirals had brought about. That it
smacked too much of the camp to please the seamen is not to be
doubted. Excellent as it looked on paper, for some reason it took
no hold; and for a thorough and lasting fleet system the English
navy had to wait till half a century later, when the exploits of
the new school of soldiers had so entirely weaned the country from
its "idolatry of Neptune" that Cromwell and his soldier-admirals
were able to force their ideas upon the seamen[304].

It is evident that the plan took no hold upon the navy, for the Instructions for a fleet at sea drawn up by Sir John Hawkins some time between this date and his departure on his and Drake's last voyage in 1595 contain no provision for any such division by squadrons[305].

The first instance, after 1545, of the systematic division of the fleet into squadrons occurs in the Cadiz Expedition of 1596. There were four English squadrons and one Dutch. The squadronal colours of the admirals have already been fully described, but, unfortunately, we have no record of the colours worn by the private ships. There were in this fleet sixteen ships belonging to the Crown: these were supplied with 145 flags and ensigns at a cost of £371. 8_s._ 4_d._, but although the size and price of each flag is given, the colours are never once mentioned in the accounts[306]. From the variations in the prices of flags of the same size, it is clear that they were of many different patterns. Possibly each ship wore an ensign of the same colours as the squadronal flags of the admirals; if so it was the first occasion on which this method was used.

One thing alone is clear; the distinction was not made by the pendants, which appear all to have been white[307] and hung only from the mizen yards. Yet it was the pendant which was ultimately adopted as the squadronal distinction colour. The first definite proposal to this end occurs in the "Notes on Sea Service"[308] submitted by Captain John Young to the Earl of Essex, probably just before the Cadiz Expedition of 1596. Young, who commanded merchant ships in the naval operations of 1588, 1589, and 1596, writes:

That the Lord High Admiral, or any of the Admirals having charge
of their several squadrants or quarters, and companies unto them
appointed, and if they would know which of all their companies or
squadrants so appointed do come into the fight or no. Then it is
very convenient and very necessary to know who doth or doth not
come in, and that every Admiral and all his own company must wear
upon their mizen yardarms pendants, and look how many Admirals you
have--so many several colours of pendants you must have also, unto
the full complement of your ships, barks, and pinnaces. By which
means and being accomplished you shall easily see and perceive
who doth come into the fight or not, which without these sundry
colours of your pendants it cannot be otherwise perceived, for that
divers ships being something afar off may resemble one another
and not be known the one from the other for these sundry coloured
pendants[309].

This proposal was not adopted in 1596, but in the Algiers Expedition of 1620 the fleet was divided into three squadrons, the ships of which were distinguished by pendants at the main, fore, and mizen tops respectively.

... the Admirall Squadron was kept sixe leagues from the shore with
pendants in the maine toppes for their signes: the Vice Admiral's
squadron three leagues without him, on his bowe, with pendants on
his foretops, the Rear Admirall three leagues within him, on his
quarter, with pendants on their mysentops.

The colours of these pendants are not stated, but from the pictures of the homecoming of the Prince of Wales in 1623, now at Hampton Court and Hinchinbrook, it appears that the pendant was still white, as in 1596, with the St George's cross at the head. The same arrangement of pendants was employed for the fleet which transported the Queen from Boulogne in June, 1625[310].

For the great expedition to Cadiz which set forth in October, 1625, the pendants, while still displayed at the three different mastheads according to the squadron, were further distinguished by being made of different colours. The Admiral's Squadron had red pendants at the main; the Vice-Admiral's, blue pendants at the fore; and the Rear-Admiral's, white pendants at the mizen.

The field of the ensign had, since its introduction about 1574, been of striped design[311]. In 1621 a large red ensign was manufactured at a cost of £4. 16_s._, and a few more were made in the following years. The suggestion for a general change to this colour emanated from Sir F. Stewart, the Rear-Admiral of the fleet, who had been nominated Admiral of the White Squadron for the Cadiz Expedition. Writing to Sir John Coke from the 'Lion' on 2nd July, 1625, he says: "A red ancient would become every one of the King's ships." Owing to the defective state of his ship, Stewart did not accompany the expedition when it finally sailed, but his suggestion was evidently adopted, for the surveys of ships' rigging made in January of the following year contain several entries of red ensigns, "serviceable" or "decayed," but as these are accompanied by other entries for the same ships of "ancients" which are not particularised, it is clear that the older ensigns were not all immediately withdrawn from service. Probably, from motives of economy, they were retained in use until worn out.

The flags flown by the Admirals of the various squadrons of the fleet that sailed to the Ile de Ré in 1627 have already been described; no record has, however, been preserved of the method (if any) by which the private ships of those squadrons (which were composed largely of merchantmen) were distinguished. The probability is that they did not wear any special ensigns or pendants.

A survey of the stores at Deptford carried out in April, 1633, gives the following flags:

Standard for the maintop 1
Red Ensigne for y^e mainmizen 1
White Ensigne with y^e kings armes 1
Red and White Ensigne with y^e St George's crosse 1
fflower de luce & roase 1
Standard for the barges head 1
White ensigne with y^e guilded lyon 1
White ensigne guilded lyon & crowne 1
White ensigne guilded unicorne 1
White ensigne with rose and crowne 1
White ensigne flower de luce & crowne 1
White ensigne with y^e Scotch armes 1
Red ensigne with y^e Lo. Admiralls badge 1
Brittaine Flagge 1
Pendants 26
* * * * *
fflags of 18 breadthes 1
16 " 1
12 " 5
Ensignes 18 " 1
14 " 6
Striped ensignes 4 new but unsbl.
Red ensignes returned from sea 2 unsbl.
Chest to put fflaggs in 1

As the four striped ensigns are reported "new but unserviceable" it may be inferred that the old striped form had now been definitely abandoned. Moreover, a similar survey carried out the month before at Portsmouth contains entries of four new "White Ensignes" and two new "Blew Ensignes," so that the white and blue ensigns had by 1633 made their appearance in the fleet. Unfortunately, the almost complete disappearance of the naval records of this period prevents us from ascertaining the precise occasion of the birth of these two ensigns; but they do not appear to have been yet in general use for distinguishing the private ships of squadrons, for Boteler, in his Six Dialogues written at this date, states that pendants were employed for that purpose.

_Admiral._ Colours and Ensignes I take to be all one, but wher are
they to be placed and wherefore serve they?

_Captain._ They are placed in the Sternes or Poops of Ships; and
very few Ships there are, whether Men of Warre or Merchantmen, that
are without them. And their especial Service is, that when any
strange Shypps meet one with another at Sea, or fynde one another
in any Harbour or Rode, by the shewinge abroade thes Ensigns or
Colours, it is knowne one to another of what country they are and
to what place they belong.

_Adm._ Serve thes Colours or Ensigns for noe other employments but
only this?

_Capt._ Yes to many other, by waye of direction[312], as shall be
sett downe largely in our next dayes discourse.

_Adm^l._ What are the Pendants you mentioned even now, and
wherefore serve they?

_Capt._ A Pendant is a long Piece of silk or other stuff, cut out
pointed wise towards the end in form of a streamer, wher they
are slit into two partes, and the use of them, to distinguish
the Squadrons of great fleetes by hanging them out in the topps
of suche shyps as carry noe flaggs. As, for example, all suche
Shypps as are of the Admiralls Squadron are to hang them out in
their maine topps, thoes of the Vice Admiralls Squadron in their
Fore-tops and thoes of the Reare Admiralls in their Missen-tops.
And here alsoe they are to be of severall Colours. But besides this
use, in great ships and especially suche as belong to the King,
they are often used by way of trimme and braverye, and are then
hung out att every Yarde-arme and att the heades of the Masts. And
thes only are their uses and employments.

It was not until the crucial period of the First Dutch War that the practice of supplying all the ships of a squadron with ensigns of the squadronal colour became established. The proposal to divide the fleet into three squadrons, one under each of the three "Generals at Sea," with red, blue and white ensigns and pendants respectively, was first made in January, 1653. This was apparently one of the results of the attempt then being made to improve the fleet tactics in view of the unsatisfactory results of the earlier actions of the war[313]. It was, however, not until early in March that definite steps were taken for this purpose. The Navy Commissioners then gave orders for the urgent manufacture of a number of pendants and ensigns, forty of each colour, all having the "red crosse in chief," the order of precedence of the colours being at the same time changed from red, blue, white, to red, white, blue. This new order of precedence remained unchanged until squadronal colours were abandoned in 1864.

The circumstances in which the St George's cross was introduced into the fly of the white ensign in May, 1702, have already been detailed. The old form with plain fly was, however, not immediately superseded; both forms were in use as late as 1717, but by 1744 the older form had entirely disappeared. It is difficult to understand why the two forms should have been allowed to continue after the short time requisite for wearing out any ensigns of the earlier pattern that might be in existence when the change was ordered in 1702, but the surveys of stocks and orders for stores establish the fact that it was so, and that the form with the cross through the fly, known as the "St George's ensign," was at first issued only to ships which were appointed to serve outside home waters.

On the legislative union of England and Scotland in 1707 the tiny Scots navy came to an end as a separate force, and the "Union" colours, invented on the union of the two crowns a hundred years before, were inserted in all ensigns, naval and mercantile. An Order in Council of 21st July, 1707, established as naval flags the royal standard, the Union flag and "the ensign directed by her Majesty since the said Union of the two Kingdoms," which from the coloured draughts attached to the order is seen to be the red ensign. The white and blue ensigns are not mentioned in this Order; evidently the red ensign was alone regarded as the legal ensign of Great Britain and the others as merely variations of it for tactical purposes. In conveying this Order to the Navy Board, the Lord High Admiral instructed that body

to cause the several ships and vessels of the Royal Navy to be with
all possible dispatch furnished with Colours accordingly, and for
the speedier and cheaper doing the same ... to order St George's
Cross to be taken out of all the ensigns and a Union Jack Flagg put
into them in the roome thereof, or to alter the said Colours in
such other manner as you shall judge best for the Service.

It was found that the jacks in store were not of the same shape as the old canton, so finally all the ensigns were returned to the contractor "to be made Union."

Except for the slight change caused by the insertion of the Irish Saltire in accordance with the Royal Proclamation of 1st January, 1801, on the legislative union of the Irish Parliament with that of Great Britain, no further change in the design of the three ensigns has taken place, though the shape has been gradually altered from a proportion of roughly 5 by 4 to that of 2 to 1. By Order in Council of 9th July, 1864, the squadronal use of the ensigns in the navy was abandoned, and the principal ensign, the red, was made the exclusive property of the Mercantile Marine, which had shared it in common with the navy since the time of Charles I. The second ensign, the white, was retained for H.M. ships, and the third--the blue--assigned to the Naval Reserve, then recently formed, and to ships belonging to the Civil Departments of the navy and other departments of State.

The reason for this change is set forth in the Memorial of the Admiralty Board to the Council in the following words:

The Flag Officers of the Fleet, whether Admirals, Vice-Admirals or
Rear-Admirals, are classed in Squadrons of the Red, White and Blue,
and are (with the exception of the Admiral of the Fleet) authorised
to fly their Flags of the colour of the Squadron to which they
belong, this regulation necessitating the adoption of ensigns
and pendants of a corresponding colour in every ship and vessel
employed under their orders, each vessel is therefore supplied with
three sets of colours, and the frequent alterations that have to be
made when the Fleet is distributed as at present, under the orders
of many Flag Officers, is attended with much inconvenience from the
uncertainty and expense which the system entails.

The increased number and size of merchant steamships render it a
matter of importance to distinguish on all occasions men-of-war and
private ships by a distinctive flag; the latter vessels bearing at
present the same Red Ensign as Your Majesty's Ships when employed
under an Admiral of the Red Squadron. It also appears to us to be
desirable to grant (under such conditions as we may from time to
time impose) the use of a distinguishing flag to such ships of the
Merchant Service as may be employed in the public service, whose
Commanding Officer (with a given portion of the crew) may belong
to the Royal Naval Reserve. We therefore most humbly submit that
Your Majesty may be pleased by Your Order in Council to prescribe
the discontinuance of the division of Flag Officers into Red, White
and Blue Squadrons, and to order and direct that the White Ensign
with its broad and narrow pendant be henceforward established and
recognised as the colours of the Royal Naval Service, reserving the
use of the Red and Blue colours for such special occasions as may
appear to us or to officers in command of Fleets and Squadrons to
require their adoption.

It will be seen that the reasons for the change given in this memorial are, first, the inconvenience and expense of keeping up the three sets of colours, and then (apparently as an afterthought) the need of a distinctive flag for the mercantile steamship. But in fact the man-of-war was already clearly distinguishable from the merchantman by its pendant and jack, a distinction that had been found sufficient for a period of two hundred years; a period during which the merchantman was, for the most part, much more like the man-of-war in outward appearance than it was in 1864. The real reason undoubtedly was that the squadronal organisation of the days when squadronal colours were first invented had become obsolete, and changes in tactics had rendered the squadronal colours unnecessary.

Before the change was made the opinions of a number of the leading admirals were taken. The majority agreed that the squadronal colours were no longer necessary and that their abandonment would be for the good of the Service. There were one or two, however, who thought otherwise, and it was pointed out that it had been found convenient during the Russian war of 1854-5 to divide the fleets in the Baltic and Black Sea by means of these colours. When Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Napier took command of the Baltic fleet he found that he and his two Rear-Admirals were all "of the Blue," and he therefore told one of them to hoist the red colours and the other the white, retaining the blue for himself, so that for this occasion the blue was the principal colour. Similarly, both Rear-Admirals in the Black Sea being "of the Red," one temporarily hoisted the white colours.

The fact that the division of fleets into red, white and blue squadrons was no longer a tactical necessity had been to some extent recognised before the end of the eighteenth century, for Howe concluded his fighting instructions, issued in 1782, with the following article:

In action, all the ships in the fleet are to wear red ensigns.

Probably this was inspired largely from fear of the inconvenience that might arise from the white ensign being mistaken for the French national flag, but the fact that Howe issued such an instruction would seem to indicate that he did not regard the squadronal colours as indispensable. Nevertheless, in the battle of the "Glorious First of June" in 1794 his fleet was divided by squadronal colours, and the 'Marlborough' suffered through having her white ensign mistaken for the French national flag, then white with a tricolour canton[314].

Shortly after this the French fleet began to fly the new tricolour flag (as at present used) which had been adopted in February, 1794, but was not supplied to the fleet until October. Thereafter there was no danger of confusing it with the white ensign, and as that was now the ensign most unlike the French flag, it was usually ordered to be flown in action by the Admiral in command. Thus on the 10th October, 1805, Nelson issued the following memorandum:

When in presence of an Enemy, all the Ships under my command are to
bear White Colours, and a Union Jack is to be suspended from the
fore-topgallant stay[315].

And when the enemy opened fire at Trafalgar, Collingwood (who was a Vice-Admiral of the Blue) hoisted his blue flag, but all the fleet, including his own flagship, hoisted white ensigns. Nelson's device of displaying an extra Union flag to ensure that no mistake should arise as to nationality is of interest, for the same course was at first adopted in the recent war, the British and German ensigns being very much alike at a distance. Early in the war the red ensign was substituted for this Union flag, and the practice of hoisting additional red ensigns on H.M. ships was followed to the end.

By the Colonial Naval Defence Act of 1865 it became lawful for any colony, subject to certain conditions, to provide and maintain its own vessels of war, and these were authorised to wear the blue ensign with the seal or badge of the colony in the fly and a blue pendant. In 1913, as an outcome of the Imperial Conference of 1911, the ships of the Naval Forces of the Dominion of Canada and the Commonwealth of Australia were further authorised to

wear at the stern the White Ensign as the symbol of the authority
of the Crown, a White Pendant at the masthead, and at the
jack-staff the distinctive flag of the Dominion, viz: the Blue
Ensign with the badge or emblem of the Dominion in the fly.

The ships of the Royal Indian Marine occupy a somewhat ambiguous position. Some of them--the floating defences--may be regarded as a Colonial Navy, others might more properly be included in class (3), Public Vessels. The old Indian marine took its rise in 1613, when the East India Company found it necessary to fit out for use only in Indian waters small vessels, which although employed to a certain extent in local carrying trade were sufficiently well armed to be of use in keeping in check the numerous native pirates who sought to prey upon the East Indiaman in those waters, and also to afford protection to the Company's vessels and factories against the ill-will of their European rivals, particularly the Portuguese. After the transfer of Bombay to the Company in 1668 that town developed into the principal seat of the Company's power, and the Indian Marine became known as the Bombay Marine. This gradually rose to such importance locally that from 1759 to 1829 a Captain of this service was annually appointed, as a deputy of the Company, to the post of Admiral of the Mogul Emperor, flying the flag of the Mogul at the main-mast-head and the Company's colours at the stern of his flagship.

From the earliest years the Company's ships were in the habit of flying pendants, and the proclamations of 1694 and subsequent years that forbade the use of these flags by other than H.M. ships were not obeyed--perhaps their existence was not known--in Indian waters. From the beginning of the eighteenth century it became customary to describe the senior officer of the Bombay Marine as "Commodore," and for him to fly a broad pendant. This practice had never received the sanction of the home authorities, though Admiral Watson, who was in command of H.M. ships in the East Indies station from 1754 to 1757, appears to have approved of the use of a common pendant[316] by the Company's armed ships.

In 1764, while carrying out arrangements connected with the evacuation of Manilla, Captain Brereton arrived at Batavia in H.M.S. 'Falmouth' and found there Commodore Watson, of the Bombay Marine, in the Company's ship 'Revenge' flying a red broad pendant. On the approach of the 'Falmouth' this was hauled down and a common pendant substituted. Brereton ordered this to be struck, and Watson thereupon hoisted the Company's colours and a broad distinguishing pendant. Brereton then sent an officer on board to demand that this also should be struck, and after a stormy scene it was done, but the pendant was again hoisted a short time afterwards. A second officer was sent to the 'Revenge,' but Watson positively refused to strike it. The next morning the 'Revenge' was seen clearing for action, with a number of armed men in her maintop to repel any attempt to touch the pendant. A third officer was then sent to the 'Revenge,' and when the junior officers of that ship realised what the result of proceeding to extremities was likely to be they gave up the pendant to him.

This example illustrates well the anomalous position in which the Indian navy stood; on the one hand it was recognised as a Colonial naval force, on the other it was treated as though it were merely a part of the British merchant service.

The position does not appear to have been regularised until 1827, when the Admiralty issued a warrant that granted the ships of the Bombay Marine

the privilege of wearing in addition to the Red Ensign, which all
ships belonging to His Majesty's subjects should legally wear, the
Union Jack and a long pennant having St George's Cross on a white
field in the upper part next the mast with a red fly.

The curious expression "should legally wear" seems to have reference to the fact that the legality of the old striped ensign of the Company had recently been called in question, and its use, except as a jack, had in consequence been abandoned. It will be observed that the Warrant makes no mention of a broad pendant, but the Bombay Marine (or Indian navy as it was called after 1830) evidently still made use of it, for in 1848 the officer acting as commander-in-chief of H.M. ships on the East Indies Station objected to the flying of the red broad pendant, and as a result it was decided that the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian navy should fly a broad pendant, red with a yellow cross, and the Company's cognisance of the yellow lion rampant, holding a crown, in the upper quarter next the staff, the Commodore of the Indian navy serving in the Persian Gulf being allowed a similar flag with a blue field[317].

In 1858, when the Government of India was transferred to the Crown, the military and naval forces were transferred with it, but the Indian navy did not find favour in the eyes of its new masters, and it was abolished. This took place in 1863, when the following ceremony was observed:

At noon on the 30th inst. the broad pennant of Commodore Frushard
will be saluted by eleven guns from the battery at the Apollo
Pier. The flag of the Indian Navy, long known as "the Company's
Jack," will then be hoisted at the Castle flagstaff and saluted
by twenty-one guns. At the close of the salute the Indian Jack
will be hauled down, the broad pennant of Commodore Frushard and
the pennants of all the Indian Naval vessels in harbour will be
struck, and the Indian Navy will cease to exist as an effective
service[318].

A new "Bombay Marine," consisting of a few small vessels engaged in the local transport and pilotage service of that port, similar to one that had already come into existence at Calcutta, was thereupon instituted. The Indian Marine Service Act of 1884 made provision for placing the vessels belonging to the Government of India under the Naval Discipline Act in time of war, and for constituting such ships vessels of war in the Royal navy. At the same time a warrant was issued authorising the vessels of the Indian Marine (to which the Prefix "Royal" was added in 1892) to fly a blue ensign with a badge of the Star of India in the fly, and a Union jack with a blue border. These vessels were in November, 1921, authorised to fly a red pendant when in commission.

(ii) PRIVATE MEN-OF-WAR

The "private man-of-war" or "privateer[319]" was a vessel the owner (or owners) of which had received from the Crown, or from the Lord High Admiral, "Letters of Marque and Reprisal." The occasion for the issue of such a licence, which was originally granted in the form of Letters Patent--whence the name--might be either special or general. It might be issued "specially" to some merchant who was able to prove that he had suffered certain losses from the action of the subjects of some foreign power, and who was thereupon authorised to make seizure of any ships or goods belonging to subjects of that State until he had by that means taken sufficient plunder to make good the losses formerly sustained by him, but no more. Such licences were also issued "generally" upon the outbreak of hostilities with a foreign state, to any subjects who wished to make war upon enemy vessels on the chance of making some profit by it, and who were able to give satisfactory security that they would comply with the regulations laid down for their conduct, particularly in the matter of the disposal of prizes taken. During the wars of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries merchants frequently sought Letters of Marque for their vessels, not because they wished them to take the offensive as regular privateers, but because they were thereby freed of all danger of being classed as "pirates" should they attempt to turn the tables upon any enemy that attacked them. For this reason many, perhaps most, of the ships of the East India and Guinea Companies fitted out in the seventeenth century carried Letters of Marque and displayed the Union jack.

Indeed, despite the issue of the Proclamations of 1634 and 1674, it seems that all privateers in the seventeenth century were in the habit of wearing the Union jack--sometimes with the permission of the authorities, but more often without it--with the object of making themselves look (so far as flags were concerned) as much like the king's ships as possible. The instructions for privateers issued toward the end of that century indicate that there was some infirmity of purpose on the part of the authorities in enforcing the existing law as regards the wearing of the Union jack. Thus the Instructions for privateers operating against Algiers[320], issued in December, 1681, provided

That the merchants, captains, and others who shall have such
letters of marque or commissions as aforesaid shall not weare in
their said ships our Union flagg or jack (which is intended to
distinguish our owne ships of warr from all others) at no time nor
upon no pretence whatsoever, unless they be warranted for so doing
by an order of leave under our hands and seal of our lord high
Admirall or Commissioners of the Admiralty,

whereas the Instructions for Privateers fitted out against France issued in May, 1693, merely ordered that the Union jack or pendant (which actually were illegal without special warrant) should not be worn in presence of H.M. ships or in circumstances in which they might give occasion to a salute by a friendly foreign power.

That such merchants, commanders of ships, and others, who shall
obtain such letters of marque or commissions as aforesaid shall
not wear our colours, commonly called the Union Jack or pendant on
board such ship or vessell by them fitted out in pursuance of such
our commission, in company of any our men of warr, or so near any
other men of warr belonging to any nation in amity with us, so as
to occasion any salute from them, or in or near any port or road
whatsoever.

A special distinguishing flag for privateers was first provided in the Royal Proclamation issued in July, 1694, which ordained that vessels receiving "Commissions of Letters of Mart or Reprisals" should wear, in addition to the St George's flag at the masthead and the red ensign with canton of St George at the stern, "a Red Jack with the Union Jack described in a Canton of the upper corner thereof next the staff"--the flag that Pepys in 1687 called the Budgee jack--which was in fact of the same design as the red ensign adopted in 1707, though apparently the canton occupied a larger proportion of the area of the flag in the jack than in the ensign[321].

Despite this precise direction, the privateer Instructions issued against France and Spain in December, 1704, contain the same instructions as those of 1693 quoted above, which presuppose that these vessels would fly the Union jack and pendant, which the Proclamation of 1694 had forbidden--but indeed, this muddle-headed attitude is not uncommon in official instructions. It is clear that privateers did carry pendants, for Woodes Rogers relates that he was ordered to strike his pendant by the 'Arundel' in August, 1708, "which we immediately did, all private commissioned ships being obliged by their Instructions to pay that respect to all her Majesty's ships and fortifications." The Distinction Jack of 1694 (subject to the necessary modification of the Union in 1801) remained the distinguishing flag of a privateer until privateering was abolished in 1856.

(iii) PUBLIC SHIPS FOR USES OTHER THAN WAR

The first suggestion that public ships which were not men-of-war should wear some distinctive flag is found in the _Sub Notes about Flags and Colours_ drawn up by Pepys about the year 1687. He writes:

And here above all it is to be reflected on what distinction is to
be made (as to the wearing of the Union Flag) between the King's
own Ships, great or small, and hired ones, either as men-of-war
(many of which both at Home and in the Plantations have been
made up of hired Merchant Men) or for lower uses, as little as
Victuallers, Water Ships, Store Ships, Pressing boats, Transporters
etc. Wherein is to be considered whether if it be wholly necessary
even in some of these occasions, as well as those of the Custom
House, Green Cloth &c. some kind of distinction-flag might not be
found sufficient to answer all the ends suggested for wearing the
Jack Flag, without prostituting that to such low uses and ready
insults[322], which so much deference is expected to by us from the
ships of foreign Princes and States of the greatest force and rate.

The Revolution of 1688 put an end to Pepys' reforming activities, and no steps were taken to distinguish such ships until 1694, when a Royal Proclamation issued 12th July provided that

Such Ships and Vessels as shall be employed for Their Majesties'
Service by the Principal Officers and Commissioners of Their
Majesties' Navy, the Principal Officers of T.M. Ordnance, the
Commissioners for Victualling T.M. Navy, the Commissioners for
T.M. Customs, and the Commissioners for Transportation for T.M.
Services, relating particularly to those Offices shall wear a Red
Jack with the Union Jack in a Canton at the upper corner thereof
next the staff, as aforesaid, and in the other part of the said
Jack shall be described the Seal used in the respective Offices
aforesaid by which the said ships and vessels shall be employed.

An Order in Council of 19th November in the same year provided further that "boats imployed in the service of the Generall Post Office be permitted to carry colours to distinguish them from other boats, and that in the said Colours there be represented a man on horseback blowing a Post horne," and from later papers in the same year it appears that the intention was that this device should be placed in the fly of the red jack, like the seals of the other government departments.

The proclamations of 1702 and 1707 confirmed the use of the red jack with the seal of office, but the King's Regulations of 1731 introduced a slight variation by providing that the seal might be placed in the body of the jack _or_ ensign; the Regulations of 1806 completed the transfer by directing that the seal should be described "in the fly of the ensign," and the Regulations of 1844, not content with this, provided that the seal or badges should be placed "in the centre of both Ensign and Jack."

In July, 1864, the colour of the Ensign was altered to blue, and the red jack became an Union jack with a white border, both with the seals or badges as before, but the introduction of the "white bordered Jack" into this clause of the Order in Council appears to have been a slip, for the Addenda to the Regulations published in 1868 specified that the jack was to be of the same design as before but blue, like the ensign, and thus it remains; the difference between the jack and the ensign being that the former is smaller and square[323], instead of oblong in the proportion of two to one.

The badges of the offices referred to in the proclamation of 1694 were as follows:

_Navy Office._ An anchor without cable in pale, with two smaller
anchors on each side of the shank.

_Ordnance Office._ This badge was similar to that now used by the
War Office (Plate XI, 7), but the colour of the shield appears to
have been originally red with a yellow chief.

_Victualling Office._ Two anchors with cables in saltire.

_Customs._ A castle gate. A regal crown was substituted for this in
1817. From that date until the Coastguard Service was transferred
to the Admiralty in 1856 all vessels engaged in prevention of
smuggling under the Customs, Excise and Admiralty flew red ensigns
and pendants with this crown upon them.

_Transport Office._ A plain anchor.

In 1701 the Admiralty complained to the King that the Governors of the plantations--the English Colonies of North America and the West Indies--were in the habit of authorising certain merchant ships, to which they gave commissions, to wear the colours of the king's ships. This the Governors claimed to do in virtue of their Vice-Admiralty commissions and because they conceived

it necessary for the security of ships sent out by them for H.M.
Service, as well as for the honour of H.M. Commissions that these
ships be authorised to bear such colours as may distinguish them
from ordinary merchants' ships and other common trading vessels.

Presumably these ships, which certainly engaged in "common trade," were also employed on protection and police duties that would normally have been performed by ships of the Royal navy, had such ships been present there in sufficient numbers. On the 31st July of the same year an Order in Council was issued directing such ships to wear a jack with a white escutcheon[324] in the centre, and forbidding them to wear the ordinary Union jack. I have not met with this special form of jack at any later date, and it seems probable that the use of these colonial hired ships was discontinued after Benbow arrived in these waters in the late autumn of that year, though an Article providing for the use of the jack appeared some years after in the Instructions issued to the Governors of these colonies. It might seem that these vessels should be classed as hired men-of-war or as privateers, but the memorial of the Admiralty to the Council places them in the category of "those employed by the Officers of the Navy, Ordnance, Victualling and others."

After the disappearance of this jack there were no special distinguishing flags for colonial vessels until 1866, when it was laid down that ships in the public service of a colony might fly the blue ensign with the distinguishing badge of the colony.

Besides the Public Offices there are a number of corporate bodies whose functions are of a public nature and who have the right to fly a special flag upon their vessels at sea. The most ancient of these is the Corporation of Trinity House, a body first incorporated by Henry VIII in 1514. Its flag (Plate XII, fig. 4) may be seen flying upon the Trinity yacht when leading the Admiralty and Royal yachts during a review of the fleet, or when escorting the sovereign at sea; on such occasions the Trinity yacht flies also a white ensign. The duties of this Corporation are, however, mainly concerned with the erection and maintenance of lighthouses, beacons and other sea marks around the English coast. Similar duties in Scottish waters are performed by the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, who fly upon their vessels a blue ensign with a white lighthouse in the fly, the Commissioners' own flag being a form of white ensign without the St Patrick's cross in the Union, and with a blue lighthouse but no St George's cross in the fly. Vessels belonging to Lloyds fly a blue ensign with the badge shown in Plate XII, fig. 10. The Port of London Authority, Thames Conservancy, Humber Conservancy, and Mersey Docks and Harbour Board have each their special badge, but these are of no historical interest. The modern Cinque Ports flag (Plate XII, fig. 5) is now never flown at sea, but is flown upon Walmer Castle, the residence of the Lord Warden.

(iv) MERCHANT SHIPS

As already remarked, the first legislative enactment providing for a distinction between the flags of merchantmen and ships belonging to the Crown was in the year 1634. We shall briefly review the position of affairs in the earlier years of that century. When James I united the crowns of England and Scotland in 1603 the English merchant ships were in the habit of flying the St George's flag at one or more mastheads, while those of Scotland flew the St Andrew's flag in a similar manner. It seems that in the great majority of these ships no other flags were flown, but some of the larger ships, especially those engaged in voyages to foreign parts, seem to have allowed themselves the additional luxury of a striped ensign (which appears to have been displayed only when attacking or resisting attack from pirates or other foreign ships, or when signalling to consorts), and also a number of pendants or streamers, which were probably only used on like occasion, or on occasions of special ceremony or rejoicing. Thus, for the ships fitted out by the East India Company in January, 1601, there was provided "for eche of the shippes 12 Streemers, 2 fflagges and one Auncient." In an inventory of the Company's ship 'Hector' of the preceding September there is mentioned besides "2 ancyents and 28 pendaunts," "a smale flag for the boat spirrit." This is the earliest instance in which I have met with a jack flag for the bowsprit in an inventory, and its use at this date must have been extremely rare and exceptional.

On the union of the two crowns, disputes as to precedence of flags appear to have broken out between the English and Scots merchant seamen, hitherto "foreigners" to each other. James attempted to remove the cause of these by providing in 1606 a combined flag, which was to be borne by both parties in their maintop, the English retaining the St George's cross at the foretop and the Scots the St Andrew's cross. So far as the Scots were concerned this attempt at compromise appears to have been rejected, for reasons already related in Chapter III, but the English adopted it. Thus, in the period between 1606 and 1634 the English merchantmen were bearing aloft two flags: the "Britain" flag, as it was then called, and the St George's flag, and although they were warned in the Proclamation of 1606 not "to bear their flags in any other sort" it is clear that some were also using on the poop a striped ensign with a St George's cross in a canton. The colours of the stripes appear to have been a matter of individual taste. Thus the ensign illustrated in the contemporary map[325] of Baffin's voyage for the discovery of the North-west Passage in 1615 displays red, green and blue stripes[326].