PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS
Historic British Red Ensign outdoor flags are USA made of nylon flag material and are finished with a canvas heading and two brass grommets on the hoist side, 2 rows of stitching top and bottom sides and 4 rows of stitching on the fly side. They are attached to the flagpole by means of a halyard (rope) and flag snaps, or to smaller poles with flag fasteners. Standard stock size for the British Red Ensign flag are 2x3 ft and 3x5 ft. Other larger flag sizes are made to order in 4x6 ft, 5x8 ft. and 6x10 ft, allow 2 weeks.
British Red Ensign current version boat flags carry the current Union Jack and are 12"x18" nylon with heading and 2 grommets, made in the USA.
British Red Ensign desktop flags are made in the United States. Size is 4 x 6 inch, lightweight nylon material, hemmed all four sides, mounted on 10” black staffs with a golden spear point. Table top bases are available in black plastic to display from 1- 7 flags. Wood bases are available with either 10 holes or 12 holes to display additional flags.
FLAG DESCRIPTION / HISTORY
1707 - 1801 The historic British Red Ensign became the civil ensign of both England and Scotland in 1707, prior to the 1801 Act of Union which made Ireland part of the United Kingdom. The flag consists of the King's Colors pre-1801 Union Jack in the upper hoist on a red field. Earliest use of a Red Ensign by the Royal Navy dates to the early 1600's.
Modern Red Ensign
In its modern form, the Red Ensign dates from the change to the Union and is in the care of the merchant service. Any vessel registered in the UK, Crown Dependency or UK Overseas Territory, is a “British ship” and is entitled to fly the Red Ensign flag. (ref; dft.gov.uk, Maritime and Coast Guard Agency of the UK) The Red Ensign Group (REG) is a group of British Shipping Registers comprised of the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies (Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey) and UK Overseas Territories (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena and the Turks & Caicos Islands) which operate shipping registers. These registers are divided into two categories: Category 1 - register ships of unlimited tonnage and type. Category 2 - register commercial ships and yachts of up to 150 gross registered tons (GRT); and vessels which are not operated commercially of up to 400 GRT. (ref; redensigngroup.org) |
