Ensign

Information about Ensign

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Ensign of the Russian Navy
An ensign is a distinguishing flag of a ship or a military unit; or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office. The word has also given rise to the military rank of "ensign", a rank of junior officer once responsible for bearing the ensign of his unit.

The word is derived from the French enseigne from the Latin plural insignia and is more particularly used for a military or naval standard or banner. An armorial ensign applies specifically to heraldic symbols of an army.

Maritime ensigns

In nautical use, an ensign in the form of a flag is usually flown at the stern of a ship or boat to indicate its nationality. Ensigns may also be flown from the gaff of a ship, and may be shifted to a yardarm when the ship is underway, where it is known as a steaming ensign. Vexillologists distinguish three varieties of a national flag when used as an ensign:
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The Red Ensign, as currently used for British civilian vessels
  • A civil ensign (usage symbol ) is worn by merchant and pleasure vessels.
  • A state ensign or government ensign (usage symbol () is worn by non-military government vessels, such as coast guard ships.
  • A naval ensign (usage symbol () is used by a country's navy.
Many countries don't distinguish between these uses, and employ their standard national flag in all three contexts; such a multiuse flag is termed a national ensign. Others (like the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Japan) use a variant of the national flag as the naval ensign. (Such flags are often strictly regulated as usable only on warships; civilian ships, with very few exceptions, would not fly naval ensigns.) Distinct civil ensigns are also common. In rare cases a distinct design is used for the state ensign, such as the blue ensign of the United Kingdom.

If a warship goes into battle, large versions of naval ensigns (called battle ensigns) are raised on the ship's mainmast.

Heraldric ensigns

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In heraldry, an ensign is the ornament or sign, such as the crown, coronet, or mitre, borne above the charge or arms.

Military standards

In many modern militaries, a "standard" refers to a type of ensign placed on a vehicle to indicate the rank of the occupant. This may be in the form of a decal on a windshield (such as the blue decals used to mark officers' cars in the United States armed forces), a license plate depicting an officer's rank insigne, or a small flag mounted on the hood or fender. These are the "standards" referred to in the 10th General Order for Sentries used by the United States military, which require subordinates to salute when the flags or placards are displayed ("not cased").

See also

flag is a piece of woven cloth, often flown from a pole or mast, generally used symbolically for signalling or identification. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.
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Ensign is a junior rank of commissioned officer in the militaries of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name.
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French (français, pronounced [fʁɑ̃ˈsɛ]) is a Romance language originally spoken in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, and today by about 300 million people around the world as either
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Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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stern is the rear or aft part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter to the taffrail.

The stern area has always been the location near the steering apparatus (rudder, tiller, ship's wheel, etc), and
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Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails) in which a sail is a four-cornered fore-and-aft rigged item controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the gaff.
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yard is a spar on a mast from which sails are set: it may be constructed either timber or steel, or from more modern materials, like aluminum or carbon fiber. Although some types of fore and aft rigs have yards (see below), the term is usually used to describe the horizontal spars
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Vexillology is the scholarly study of flags. The term was coined in 1957 by the American scholar Whitney Smith, the author of many books and articles on the subject. It was originally considered a sub-discipline of heraldry, and is still occasionally seen as such.
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national flag is a flag that symbolises a country. The flag is flown by the government, but usually can be flown by citizens of that country as well.

Both public and private buildings such as schools and courthouses often fly the national flag.
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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.
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For the 2002 South Korean film, see .
A coast guard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries.
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navy is the branch of a country's military forces principally designated for naval warfare and amphibious warfare (marines) namely lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions.
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Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [2]   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" [3]
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Anthem
Il Canto degli Italiani
(also known as Fratelli d'Italia)


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Anthem
Hymn of the Russian Federation


Capital
(and largest city) Moscow

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Anthem
"God Defend New Zealand"
"God Save the Queen" 1


Capital Wellington

Largest city Auckland
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warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat . Warships are usually built in a completely different way than merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuverable than merchant ships.
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Blue Ensign is a flag, one of several British ensigns, used by certain organisations or territories associated with the United Kingdom. It is used either plain, or defaced with a badge or other emblem.

The evolution of the Blue Ensign followed that of the Union Flag.
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A battle ensign is the name given to a large war flag which is flown on a warship's mast just before going into battle.

The flag identified the allegiance of the ship in what could be a very confusing situation, with thick clouds of gunsmoke obscuring the ships in action,
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mast of a sailing ship is a tall vertical pole which supports the sails. Larger ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship.
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Heraldry in its most general sense encompasses all matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of officers of arms.[1] To most, though, heraldry is the practice of designing, displaying, describing, and recording coats of arms and badges.
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In heraldry and vexillology, a charge is an image occupying the field on an escutcheon (or shield). Charge can also be a verb; for example, if an escutcheon bears three lions, then it is said to be charged with three lions.
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coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short), in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people) and used by them in a wide variety of ways.
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United States Armed Forces is the military service of the United States and is structured into five branches.
  • U.S. Army
  • U.S. Marine Corps
  • U.S. Navy
  • U.S. Air Force
  • U.S.

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A battle ensign is the name given to a large war flag which is flown on a warship's mast just before going into battle.

The flag identified the allegiance of the ship in what could be a very confusing situation, with thick clouds of gunsmoke obscuring the ships in action,
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ensigns flown by vessels and aircraft of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, and by certain nations of the Commonwealth.

In British maritime law and custom, the ensign proper to a British ship is one of several flags with a red, white or blue field, with
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Blue Ensign is a flag, one of several British ensigns, used by certain organisations or territories associated with the United Kingdom. It is used either plain, or defaced with a badge or other emblem.

The evolution of the Blue Ensign followed that of the Union Flag.
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Red Ensign or "Red Duster" is a flag that originated in the early 17th century as an ensign flown by the Royal Navy. The precise date of its first appearance is not known, but surviving receipts indicate that the Navy was paying to have such flags sewn during the 1620s.
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