The Blue Ensign is a British ensign that may be used on vessels by certain authorised yacht clubs, Royal Research Ships and British merchant vessels whose master holds a commission in the Royal Naval Reserve or has otherwise been issued a warrant. Defaced versions with a badge or other emblem are used more broadly; in the United Kingdom by authorised government or private bodies; and internationally by nations or organisations previously a part of the British Empire.
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 (which included present day 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 Navy Royal inaugurated squadron colours during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558âÂÂ1603) to subdivide the English fleet into three squadrons. There were three classes of admirals and differentiated by using coloured flags. There would be three Commanders titled, in order of precedence, as Admiral of the Red Squadron, Admiral of the White Squadron, and Admiral of the Blue Squadron. These were abolished as promotional ranks with the reorganisation of the Royal Navy in 1864.
Prior to the reorganisation of the Royal Navy in 1864, the plain blue ensign had been the ensign of one of three squadrons of the Royal Navy, the Blue Squadron. This changed in 1864, when an order in council provided that the Red Ensign was allocated to merchantmen, the Blue Ensign was to be the flag of ships in public service or commanded by an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve, and the White Ensign was allocated to the Navy.
Thus, since 1864, the plain blue ensign (without any defacement or modification) is permitted to be worn, instead of the Red Ensign, by three categories of civilian vessel:
Permission for yachts to wear the blue ensign (and other special yachting ensigns) was suspended during both World War I and World War II.
In addition, prior to WWI, a number of ships (in particular, the and ) were listed as Royal Navy Reserve Merchant Vessels, receiving an annual subsidy from the navy and were permitted to fly the blue ensign.
Since 1864, the Blue Ensign is defaced with a badge or emblem, to form the ensign of United Kingdom government departments or public bodies (including British colonial government departments). Current defaced Blue Ensigns (besides yacht clubs listed below) are:
Royal Air Force marine vessels (such as seaplane tenders) flew a defaced blue ensign with an eagle and anchor.
Yachting Blue Ensigns defaced by the badge of the club were recorded in the Navy List until 1985, and now they are administered by the Royal Yachting Association for the Ministry of Defence. Current defaced Blue Ensigns are:
Current flags:
Former flags: The defaced blue ensign was formerly used as:
These include: