Red Ensign

The Red Ensign is a flag flown as an ensign by merchant ships and other private vessels of the United Kingdom. The red ensign has a Union Flag in the canton and may be defaced by a badge or shield in the fly. For more information see British ensigns.

Table of contents

1 Canada 2 South Africa 3 Bermuda

Canada

Red Ensign]]

The term is often used in particular to refer to the Canadian Red Ensign, the former de facto national flag of Canada. From 1892 it was the official flag for use on Canadian merchant ships, but on land the official national flag was the Union Jack. Despite its lack of official status the Red Ensign was widely used on land as well. In 1924 it was approved for use on Canadian government buildings outside Canada, and in 1945 for those inside Canada as well. The Red Ensign served until 1965 when it was replaced by today's Maple Leaf Flag. The flag bore various forms of the shield from the Canadian coat of arms in its fly during the period of its use. The picture shows the official form between 1957 and 1965.

Two Canadian provincial flags are Red Ensigns, the flag of Ontario and the flag of Manitoba, both of which were introduced when the Canadian Red Ensign was replaced by the Maple Leaf Flag.

Use of the old Canadian Red Ensign has been revived by some far right neo-fascist groups despite the fact that it was the flag under which Canadian soldiers fought Nazi Germany.

South Africa

as it appeared from 1910 to 1912]].

The Union of South Africa used a Red Ensign as its de facto national flag from 1910 until 1928, with the shield of its coat of arms in the fly. There was also a Blue Ensign which was mostly used on overseas offices.

Both ensigns were changed slightly in 1912 when the shield of the coat of arms was placed on a white roundel. The most notable usage of the flag was when General Louis Botha flew the flag over Windhoek in what was then German South West Africa after the town's capture by South African troops in 1915.

Neither the red nor blue ensign enjoyed public support, particularly not from the Afrikaans speaking portion of the white population.

Bermuda

's Red Ensign]] Bermuda, uniquely among British overseas territories, also uses the Red Ensign as its flag, again with the shield of its coat of arms in the fly.