For the Australian oil shale company, see Blue Ensign Technologies.
Blue Ensign
Use
State ensign
Proportion
1:2
Adopted
British Government
Design
A blue field with the Union occupying one quarter of the field and placed in the canton.
RFA Brambleleaf flying the square Blue Jack based on the Blue Ensign
The Blue Ensign is a flag, one of several British ensigns, used by certain organisations or territories associated or formerly 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 Jack. The ensign originated in the 17th century with the St George's Cross (the Flag of England) in the canton, and with a blue field.
The Acts of Union 1707 united England and Wales with Scotland in the Kingdom of Great Britain, thus producing a new Blue Ensign with the new Union Flag, containing a saltire, in the canton. With the Act of Union 1800, Ireland became a part of the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and St Patrick's Cross was incorporated into the Union Flag and, accordingly, into the cantons of all British ensigns from 1 January 1801.
The modern Blue Ensign of the United Kingdom
The British Blue Ensign (1707–1801)
English Blue Ensign as it appeared in the seventeenth century
The BlueEnsign is a flag, one of several British ensigns, used by certain organisations or territories associated or formerly associated with the United...
The Canadian Red Ensign (French: Red Ensign canadien) served as a nautical flag and civil ensign for Canada from 1892 to 1965, and later as the de facto...
or blue field, dependent on whether the vessel is civilian, naval, or in a special category. These are known as the red, white, and blueensigns respectively...
The flag of Australia, also known as the Common blueEnsign, is based on the British BlueEnsign—a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter—augmented...
The Red Ensign or "Red Duster" is the civil ensign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is one of the British ensigns, and it...
mainly blue. Both flags resulted from the Commonwealth Government's 1901 Federal Flag Design Competition which required two entries: an ensign for Commonwealth...
White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign because of the simultaneous existence of a crossless version of the flag, is an ensign worn on...
on the general theme of the state colours of blue and yellow. Early variant of state flag and war ensign. This design was also used by the Swedish East...
form of maritime identification. The blueensign of the Star of India was used from 1879–1892 as the naval ensign of Her Majesty's Indian Marine (1879–1892)...
advertisements. These include any country’s national flag, civil ensign or civil air ensign; the flag of the Commonwealth, the United Nations or any other...
versions of plain and defaced Red and Blueensigns for civilian and state use, as well as the naval ensign (White Ensign) that can also be used by yachts of...
New Zealand, also known as the New Zealand Ensign, is based on the British maritime BlueEnsign – a blue field with the Union Jack in the canton or upper...
plain and defaced Red and Blueensigns for civilian and state use, as well as the naval ensign (White Ensign). Some naval ensigns differ in shape from the...
comte de Chambord. The Royal Banner of France or "Bourbon Flag". Civil Ensign of the Kingdom of France. Imperial Standard of Napoléon III. Flag of Lyon...
the United States of America) tended to be variations of the Red and BlueEnsigns of Great Britain with no colonial badges or coat of arms attached to...
The Australian white ensign (also known as the Australian naval ensign or the Royal Australian Navy ensign) is a naval ensign used by ships of the Royal...
displayed on the flag, but the pine almost always is. There is a blueensign and a red ensign variant. In each, St. George's cross is in the canton, whose...
aquamarine, gold and aquamarine. Adopted in 1973 to replace the British BlueEnsign defaced with the emblem of the Crown Colony of the Bahama Islands, it...
horizontal green, white and blue bands. It was adopted in 1961, Sierra Leone's independence year, to replace the British BlueEnsign defaced with the arms of...
with a blue upper triangle and green lower triangle, and the canton charged with five white stars. Adopted in 1977 to replace the British BlueEnsign defaced...
Royal Air Force Ensign is the official flag which is used to represent the Royal Air Force. The ensign has a field of air force blue with the United Kingdom's...
and green. It was designed in replacement of the British Gold Coast's BlueEnsign. The flag was adopted upon the independence of the Dominion of Ghana...
the BlueEnsign and other official banners. When the Democratic Party ruled the country, it proposed a flag design with vertical stripes of green-blue-green...
red ensign form; most other British overseas territories use a version of the blueensign for general use ashore. Bermuda's use of a red ensign on land...
the coat of arms The flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands features a blueensign with the Union flag in the canton, defaced with the coat of arms of the...
Global Information
The modern Blue Ensign of the United Kingdom
The British Blue Ensign (1707–1801)
