British Flags: Their Early History, and Their Development at Sea / With an Account of the Origin of the Flag as a National Device

by William Gordon Perrin

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 The old form with plain fly was, however, not immediately superseded; both forms were in use as late as 1717, but by 1744 the older form had entirely disappeared.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."

PLATE XI — Modern Ensigns, etc.