Last modified: 2013-05-18 by rob raeside
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The official flag of a colony was the Union Jack. The governor flew the Union Jack with the badge of the colony in a laurel wreath in the centre of the St George's cross. Vessels employed by the government of the colony flew a Blue Ensign bearing the badge in the centre of the fly. A few colonies, usually self-governing ones, had a Red Ensign for their merchant marine. That privilege was not extended to all colonies, most of which had to use the plain Red Ensign. A couple of dominions - Canada until 1964 and South Africa until 1926 - in effect used Red Ensigns as their national flags.
The colonial badges could be the whole arms (e.g. Hong Kong), shield of arms
(e.g. the Falkland Islands), crest (e.g. British North Borneo), an adaptation of the
arms (e.g. New South Wales), the colonial seal (e.g. Barbados), or none of the above
(e.g. the Leeward Islands, which had a very poorly-designed badge involving ships
and pineapples at wildly varying scales).
Roy Stilling, 6 February 1996
Foreign civilian ships visiting any British overseas territory should fly, as
a courtesy flag, the territory's own Red Ensign if the territory has one and the
ship happens to carry one. The undefaced British Red Ensign is always an acceptable
alternative. If the ship is a Foreign government vessel they should fly the territory's
Blue Ensign. Basically the British rule is that you may use either the appropriate
Red, Blue or White ensign (depending upon your own status) or the land flag, except
that you cannot use the Union Flag at all.
Graham Bartram, 1 April 1999
Regulations of 1865 required all colonial governments to adopt a defaced Blue
Ensign for their ships, but a defaced Red Ensign for colonial merchantmen required
a warrant from the Admiralty.
Roy Stilling, April 1997
No organized system of colonial flags existed until 1865 when the Admiralty
ruled that the flag that should be worn by any vessel maintained by a colony
under the terms of the Colonial Naval Defence Act should be a Blue Ensign with
the Seal or Badge of the colony in the centre of the fly. The vessel should
additionally wear a Blue Pennant unless it was not commissioned as a vessel of
war when the ensign would be worn without the pennant.
David Prothero,
23 April 2010
A further series of colonial flags was authorised in 1869 for the use of
colonial governors when embarked in a vessel on waters within their
jurisdiction; the Arms or Badge of the colony encircled by a garland in the
centre of a Union Jack. Some badges that were used on the flags of governors
were not used on ensigns and vice versa. Where a colony needed both flags, the
same badge should have been used on each one, but at first this requirement was
not always observed.
David Prothero, 23 April 2010
The governor of a colony submitted a drawing of the proposed badge of the
colony to the Colonial Office, which consulted the Admiralty before approving
the design. Few colonies had Arms, none had a Badge, but all had a Public Seal
that followed a standard pattern; the Royal Arms above a panel that contained an
allegorical scene or landscape relevant (more or less) to the colony.
Twenty-four of the fifty flag badges authorised up to 1880 were based upon the
pictorial panel of the Seal, and nine were Arms, or elements of Arms. The scene
on the Seal could not always be adapted to make a satisfactory badge, and
approval was also given for original designs that were not based on the Seal or
Arms. Usually these were crowns or other royal emblems, often in combination
with words, initials or stars. At the beginning of the 20th century colonies
were encouraged to apply for Arms. Not many did, as governors of smaller
colonies considered that the cost, born by the colony, could not be justified.
Those that were granted Arms used them, or part of them, as the badge on the
ensign. In the Nineteen-Twenties and Thirties badges were designed by the Royal
Mint Advisory Committee that was responsible for the production of coins, medals
and decorations. Sixty-five different badges were in use in 1949 when the
British Commonwealth was renamed The Commonwealth of Nations. Twenty-seven were
Arms or elements of Arms, twenty-two were derived from Seals and fourteen were
royal emblem, star, word/initial combinations. The total number of badges
decreased as colonies gained independence, but twenty-three new badges were
created for territories that had been parts of former federal colonies. These
badges were now almost exclusively based upon Arms granted and designed by the
College of Arms, which also revised seven existing badges.
David Prothero, 23 April 2010
See also: Disks on Colonial Flags
The badge on both ensigns and on Union Jacks was placed inside a circle with
a diameter that was four-ninths the length of the hoist of the flag. Those
badges that were not circular were set in an imaginary circle of this size. Some
ensign badges never conformed to this restriction, and since 1999 there has been
no restriction on the size of any ensign badge.
David Prothero, 23 April 2010
Those non-circular badges that were not clearly visible against the blue or
red field of an ensign were placed upon a white disc of the specified diameter.
In the Admiralty and Colonial Office flag books the pages showing colonial
badges consisted of rows and columns of white circles onto which the badges were
printed. As a result it was often thought that all badges that were not circular
had to be set on a white disc. An unsuccessful attempt to resolve this
misunderstanding was made in the early 1920s when the Admiralty, in consultation
with the Colonial Office and relevant governor, stipulated which badges should
be on a white disc and which should not.
David Prothero, 23 April 2010
It was also often wrongly thought that there was a corresponding Red Ensign
for every colonial Blue Ensign. A plain Red Ensign, as used by British merchant
ships, was the proper ensign of any vessel registered in a British colony. It
was only in protectorates and mandated territories whose inhabitants were not
British subjects and were not entitled to sail under the plain Red Ensign that,
where necessary, a warrant was issued for a Red Ensign with the badge of the
territory in the fly. Warrants were also issued for colonies which became
self-governing Dominions.
David Prothero, 23 April 2010
The red ensigns which were authorized by an Admiralty warrant were those of overseas territories. Flagmaster lists the following:
| Territory | Date of permission to use a defaced Red Ensign |
|---|---|
| North Borneo (modern Sabah) | 5 January 1882 |
| East Africa (Kenya) | 6 March 1890 |
| Canada | 2 February 1892 |
| New Zealand | 7 February 1899 |
| British South Africa Company | 11 November 1902 |
| Australia | 4 June 1903 |
| South Africa | 28 December 1910 |
| Cyprus | 31 August 1922 |
| Newfoundland | 25 October 1918 |
| Tanganyika | 9 March 1923 |
| Somaliland | 29 June 1924 |
| Indian Native States | 10 October 1924 |
| Western Samoa | 16 January 1925 |
| Palestine | 14 October 1927 |
India had an unofficial red ensign with a sort of sun in the fly charged with a
ring and a star. If you read this carefully you will see a strange thing: there
was a red ensign for an inland territory (Rhodesia).
Source: Flagmaster number 82, 1996, 'Sorting out the colonies, new flags for
old possessions'
Nick Artimovich, 6 February 1996
Blue Ensigns with a badge in the fly could be authorised by correspondence
between the Admiralty, Colonial Office and relevant governor. Red Ensigns were
regulated by Parliament through various Merchant Shipping Acts and required
specific authorisation by Admiralty Warrant, as did Blue Ensigns of chartered
companies.
David Prothero, 23 April 2010
The land flag of a colony was the Union Jack, but by the end of the 19th
century defaced ensigns, usually red and often unauthorised, were being flown on
land. The need for a distinctive flag at international sporting events also led
to increasing use on land of colonial Blue Ensigns. The use of ensigns on land
was also encouraged by the widespread belief that the Union Jack, which was
always flown over Government House, was the flag of the governor and should not
be flown by anyone else. In 1941, to encourage wider use of the Union Jack, the
Colonial Office directed that the Union Jack with the colonial badge in its
centre was the flag of the governor in all circumstances, and not solely for use
when embarked.
David Prothero, 23 April 2010
In their work on Canadian flags, Alistair Fraser and Ralph Spence state that authorisation for the creation of a distinguishing flag for the governor general was given (presumably by the Admiralty) in 1869:
We further submit that the Governors of Your Majesty's Dominions in Foreign Parts, and Governors of all ranks and denomination administering the Governments of British Colonies and dependencies be authorised to fly the Union Jack with the Arms of the Badge of the Colony emblasoned in the centre thereof.Fraser and Spence do not give a primary reference as a citation for this quotation, but Conrad Swan states that the final design was authorised by despatch #191 of Lord Kimberley, secretary of state for the colonies, to Sir John Young, Bt., governor general of Canada, 16 July 1870; see Public Record Office CO 43/157. The above quotation simply gave permission for the governors general of the colonies to fly a distinguishing flag, and a rough idea as to its design - the specific design for each colony still had to be submitted to the authorities for approval. This happened for Canada on 16 July 1870. In fact, the final design differed from that suggested in the quotation above, in that the Union Flag not only had the badge of the colony in it, but was also surrounded by a crown and a garland of maple leaves. This became the general pattern for other colonies, although the garland was either of oak leaves or some local flora rather than the distinctively Canadian maple leaves.
Although it is certainly correct to suggest that the changes to the flags
of the governors general that occurred in 1931 in Canada and South Africa,
and later in the other dominions, must be seen as part of the constitutional
transformation process of the empire, one should be careful not to directly
link the change to the statute of Westminster. In fact, according to Conrad
Swan, York herald of arms, the change had been planned for quite some time
before 1931. Swan also asserts that it was King George V who personally
proposed the new design as early as 1928. In support of this Swan cites Lord
Stamfordham, private secretary to the king, to Sir Henry Farnham Burke, garter
king of arms, 24 September 1928; Public Record Office: CA 15. Finally, the
new flag was formally adopted in Canada on 25 February 1931, nearly a year
before the statute of Westminster was passed on 11 December 1931.
Glen Robert-Grant Hodgins, 23 February 1999
Originally the flags of governors-general, lieutenant-governors, governors-in-chief, governors, commissioners and administrators were all Union Jacks defaced with a badge in the centre. The royal crest on a blue flag was adopted by the governors-general of South Africa and Canada in 1931, and Australia and New Zealand in 1936. All subsequent governors-general had flags of this pattern. At various times between 1952 and 1988 the lieutenant-governors of the Canadian provinces (except for Nova Scotia) and the governors of the Australian states (except for Queensland) replaced their defaced Union Jacks with new distinguishing flags.
The following is a reasonably comprehensive list of the flags of governors-general. Unless otherwise noted, the name is on a scroll in capital letters and the flag proportions are 1:2.
| Country | Dates | Legend | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antigua | 1981-? | ? | |
| Australia | 1936-present | Commonwealth of Australia | Crown changed in 1953. |
| Bahamas | 1973-present | Commonwealth of the Bahamas | |
| Barbados | 1966-present | Barbados | Ratio of 3:4. |
| Belize | 1981-? | ? | |
| Canada | 1931-present | Canada | Crown changed in 1953; scroll removed and royal crest replaced by the Canadian crest in 1981. |
| Fiji | 1970-? | Fiji | Legend on a whale's tooth; ratio of 11:15. |
| Gambia | 1965-70 | ? | |
| Ghana | 1957-60 | ? | |
| Grenada | 1974-present | Grenada | |
| Guyana | 1966-70 | ? | |
| India | 1947-50 | India | No scroll; see note no. 1 below. |
| Jamaica | 1962-present | Jamaica | |
| Kenya | 1963-64 | ? | |
| Malawi | 1964-66 | ? | |
| Malta | 1964-74 | Malta | |
| Mauritius | 1968-92 | Mauritius | |
| New Zealand | 1936-present | Dominion of New Zealand | Crown changed in 1953; legend changed to 'New Zealand'. |
| Pakistan | 1947-56 | Pakistan | No scroll; crown changed in 1953. |
| Papua New Guinea | 1975-present | Papua | |
| Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland | 1953-63 | Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland | See note no. 2 below. |
| Saint Kitts-Nevis | 1983-present | St Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla | Legend changed to 'Country above Self'. |
| Saint Lubrsocia | 1979-present | Saint Lucia | |
| St Vincent and the Grenadines | 1979-present | St Vincent & The Grenadines | |
| Sierra Leone | 1961-71 | ||
| Solomon Islands | 1978-present | Solomon Islands | The legend appears on the outline of a two-headed frigate bird. |
| South Africa | 1931-61 | 'Union of South Africa' above and 'Unie Van Suid Afrika' below crest. | Crown changed in 1953. |
| South East Asia | 1946-1956 | South East Asia | The present Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. |
| Southern Rhodesia | 1951-65+ | ? | Large crown (changed in 1953) instead of royal crest; ratio of 7:9. |
| Sri Lanka | 1948-72 | Ceylon | No scroll; crown changed in 1953. |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1962-76 | Trinidad & Tobago | |
| Tuvalu | 1978-present | Tuvalu | |
| Uganda | 1962-67 | ? | |
| West Indies | ? | The West Indies | See note no. 3 below. |
David Prothero, 16, 18 and 28 January 2000
The official model was (and still is) that the wreath [around the disc] sits
half on and half off the outer edge of the disc. In practice a lot of flags were
made with the wreath completely within the disc simply because this was easier
to make. The modern specification is that the outer diameter of the gold ring is
now 55% of the flag width, and the ring is 2.34% of the flag width thick. The
wreath is approximately 4% of the flag width wide, so you can see that it
doesn't overlap the inner edge of the gold ring.
Graham Bartram, 28 May 2005