The flag under which all our ships now sail is the Ensign.

In early times every chieftain or knight, whether serving in the field or on board ship, had his own distinguishing flag, and if several knights were embarked in one ship, the ship carried the flags of them all. In one of the illuminations of the reign of Henry VI., the sides of a ship are covered with shields, and in other examples armorial devices are even shown painted on the sails. When engaged in any active service, a ship would carry also the flag of the leader or admiral, and, in addition to this, the emblem of some patron saint, depending in this on the caprice or superstition of the owner. Besides these a ship usually bore the flag of her port—a usage which, so far as merchant ships are concerned, still holds among us in the practice of carrying what are known as "house flags," though now strictly subordinated to that of carrying the national ensign. With ships of other countries the usage continued till comparatively lately. In France, down to the Revolution, merchant ships flew the flag of their port more commonly than the flag of France; as for instance, of Marseilles, white with a blue cross; or of Dunkirk, barry of six argent and azure, with the alternative of the old English white ensign, white with a small St. George's cross in the upper corner next the hoist, derived from the English sovereignty in the seventeenth century.[39] In the same way in the Baltic: in the Netherlands almost every port had its own flag, and the free towns of Germany till quite recently followed the same practice. It was the same in England in early times—a sailor being more a sailor of his port than of his country.

Now, as a rule, the ships of all countries sail under their national colours. With us the flag under which all our ships sail is the Ensign, of which there are three—the white, the blue, and the red. It is a large flag of one of the colours named, with the Union in a square or canton at the upper part of the hoist. I may explain that the portion of a flag next the staff or rope from which it is flown is called the hoist, the next is called the centre, and the outer portion the fly. Besides the Union in the canton, the white ensign has the St. George's cross extending over the whole field.

Although the Union flag of Great Britain was appointed by royal order in 1606, it was not inserted in the Ensign till 1707. Previous to that the Ensign bore only the English cross in the canton.

In the royal navy, not always, but for some time previous to 1864, the fleet consisted of three divisions called the White, the Blue, and the Red Squadrons, each carrying its distinctive Ensign, and, latterly, each having its admiral called after the colour of his flag. But till 1805 there was no admiral of the Red. Previous to that the admiral commanding in the centre flew at the main, not the red flag, but the Union.

The first notice of the division of the fleet appears in a MS. report by Mr. Pepys, secretary to the Admiralty, in which it is stated that in the Duke of Buckingham's expedition against the Isle of RhÉ in 1627 the fleet was thus divided. The notice is interesting:—"The Duke now lying at Portsmouth divided his Fleete into squadrons. Himselfe, Admirall and Generall in Chiefe, went in y^e Triumph, bearing the standard of England in y^e maine topp, and Admirall particular of the bloody colours. The Earle of Lindsay was vice-Admirall to the Fleete in the Rainbowe, bearing the king's usual colours in his fore topp, and a blew flag in his maine topp, and was admiral of the blew colours. The Lord Harvey was Rear Admirall in y^e Repulse bearing the king's usual colours in his mizen, and a white flag in the maine topp, and was Admirall of y^e squadron of white colours." In this instance it will be observed the blue flag took precedence of the white. Under the Commonwealth the blue was put down to the third place, and when on the Restoration the Union flag was reintroduced, the precedence of the three colours remained as it had been determined by the Commonwealth. The arrangement of the fleet into three divisions continued till 1864; but it often proved puzzling to foreigners, and it was found inconvenient in action. It was for this last reason that Lord Nelson, on going into action at Trafalgar, ordered the whole of his fleet to hoist the White Ensign, and it was under that flag that that great victory was gained.

During the wars of the seventeenth century the Dutch fleets were also divided into three squadrons, distinguished, like the English, by the three colours—orange or red, white, and blue, and both with them and in our own service this was perhaps necessary when fleets consisted of such a large number of ships—our own numbering often as many as 200 sail. Latterly, when fleets were comparatively so much smaller, the distinctive colours became of less importance, and in 1864 the classification was discontinued. Now the White Ensign only is used by all her Majesty's ships in commission. Previous to this it had been ordered by royal proclamation, in 1801, that merchant ships should fly only the Red Ensign, and this is still the rule; but since the three divisions of the fleet were abolished, the Blue Ensign is allowed to be used by British merchant ships when commanded by officers of the Royal Naval Reserve, provided one-third of the crew be men belonging to the Reserve. By permission of the Admiralty the Blue Ensign is also allowed to be used by certain yacht clubs; and the members of one club—the Royal Yacht Squadron—have liberty to use the White Ensign.