There are three British ensigns — the white, 

 blue, and red. 



To understand the use of the red, the white, 

 and the blue ensign in the British navy, it is 

 necessary to know the organization of the huge 

 fleets of that day. In a fleet there were the 

 center, the van, and the rear. 



The admiral of the fleet, with the union flag 

 at the mainmast of his flagship, commanded 

 the vessels of the "center," and they were re- 

 quired to display red ensigns (1123), referred 

 to countless times in history as the famous 

 "meteor flag of Old England" on account of 

 its red field and the red cross of St. George. 

 The vice-admiral of the white, with his white 

 flag (1121) at the fore of his flagship, com- 

 manded the vessels of the van (fore), and they 

 displayed the white ensign (1124). The rear- 

 admiral of the blue, with his blue flag (1122) 

 at the mizzen of his flagship, commanJed the 

 vessels of the rear (mizzen), and they wore 

 the blue ensign (11 25). So that the ensigns 

 indicated the squadrons, and the colors and the 

 positions (main, fore, and mizzen) of the ad- 

 mirals' flags the ranks of the commanding 

 admirals. This practice was of long standing, 

 and of course came from the English navy, 

 there being practically no Scottish navy. This 

 is all made clear by examination of the ad- 

 mirals' flags, 1121 and 1122, and the ensigns 

 1123, 1124, and 1125 of the year 1705 (two 

 years before the union of the crosses of St. 

 George and St. Andrew). 



At the time of our Revolution the same flags 

 of rank and the same ensigns were in use, but 

 with the union flag of England and Scotland 

 in their cantons. These ensigns continued to 

 have this significance until 1864, when the red 

 ensign disappeared from the place of honor in 

 the British navy, the white ensign (834) be- 

 coming the exclusive ensign of the navy, the 

 blue ensign (835) for public vessels (with a 

 badge in its fly) and naval reserve vessels, 

 and the red ensign (836) became the exclusive 

 property of the merchant marine. 



The red flag of defiance (1126) has for cen- 

 turies been the symbol of revolution and of 

 mutiny. 



Queen Elizabeth chartered the East India 

 Company in 1600. Its flag (1129) has peculiar 

 interest for America, as some historians de- 

 clare that it was the parent banner of our 

 Stars and Stripes. Benjamin Franklin is re- 

 puted to have urged its adoption at a dinner 

 which he and Washington attended on De- 

 cember 13, 1775, and at which he is said to have 

 declared : "While the field of your flag must 

 be new in the details of its design, it need not 

 be entirely new in its elements. It is fortunate 

 for us that there is already in use a flag with 

 which the English Government is familiar, and 

 which it has not only recognized but protected. 

 I refer to the flag of the East India Company." 



The East India Company's banner at that 

 time was slightly different, however, from the 

 colors shown here (1129), for in 1707 the union 

 between England and Scotland took place and 

 the St. George's cross was combined with that 

 of St. Andrew. The East India Company flag 

 vanished from the seas in 1858. when the 

 British Government took over its functions. 



The Guinea Company (also a chartered trad- 



ing organization of England) carried its check- 

 ered red and white ensign (1130) up and down 

 the West African coast for many years. In 

 1663 its vessels brought from Guinea the gold 

 from which the first English "guineas" were 

 coined. 



The Scottish ensign (1131) and Scottish Un- 

 ion flag (1132) recall an interesting bit of con- 

 troversy between the subjects of "South Britain 

 and North Britain," as the English and Scotch 

 were then designated. With the union of the 

 two countries under James I, it became neces- 

 sary to devise a new flag. A royal ordinance 

 of April 12, 1605, recites the following: 



"Whereas some difference hath arisen be- 

 tween our subjects of South and North Britain, 

 traveling by seas, about the bearing of their 

 flags, — for the avoiding of all such contentions 

 hereafter, we have, with the advice of our 

 council, ordered that from henceforth all our 

 subjects of this isle and kingdom of Greater 

 Britain, and the members thereof, shall bear 

 in their maintop the Red Cross, commonly 

 called St. George's Cross (1127), and the White 

 Cross, commonly called St. Andrew's Cross 

 (831), joined together, according to a form 

 made by our heralds, and sent by us to our 

 admiral to be published to our said subjects; 

 and in their foretop our subjects of South 

 Britain shall wear the Red Cross only, as they 

 were wont, and our subjects of North Britain 

 in their foretop the White Cross only, as they 

 were accustomed" (see also 829). 



The Scottish Union flag (1132) carries the 

 quarrel a step farther. The Scottish superim- 

 posed the white cross on the English red; the 

 English, on their side, superimposed the red 

 cross on the white. 



The Irish ensign at the beginning of the 

 eighteenth century (1133) bore the cross of 

 St. George in the canton and a gold harp on 

 a green field, thoroughly appropriate for the 

 "Emerald Isle." 



Holland's five flags 



In his "Book of the Universe," Beaumont 

 ascribes five flags to Holland at the dawn of 

 the eighteenth century (1134, H35> 1136, H39> 

 1140). Holland became an independent State 

 in 1579, and in 1599 its flag was officially 

 designated as orange, white, and blue, in three 

 horizontal stripes, these being the colors of the 

 great leader, William, Prince of Orange. _ In 

 some manner never satisfactorily explained 

 (see 377 and 775), the orange became red early 

 in the seventeenth century, and it was under 

 the tricolor (red, white, and blue) that the 

 naval heroes Tromp and De Ruyter fought 

 their many brilliant sea engagements with the 

 English between 1652 and 1654. 



Concerning the city of Amsterdam (1137) 

 two centuries ago, Beaumont furnishes the 

 following unique description : "Amsterdam is 

 the most considerable city of all Holland; the 

 houses are generally built of brick, and it's 

 built on piles like Venice. As to what propor- 

 tion of bigness this city bears to London I 

 have no exact account. Amsterdam for riches, 

 trading, shipping, fair streets, and pleasant 

 habitations scarce yields to any other city of 

 the world. The whole town being in a low, 



400 



