MYC Flag Etiquette

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Flags tell a lot about a vessel; the burgee lets you know what club the owner belongs to, which gives you a clue from where the boat hails. The ensign tells you what country it’s from, and the private signal will tell you who the owner is. This used to be a simple exercise when Lloyds’ Register of American Yachts was in business as all this was listed and easily referenced.

Club Burgee

The first rule is flying the burgee right side up; the star should always have the single point up. Proper size for your burgee is important. For sailboats it should be on half inch on the fly for every foot of the tallest mast. For power boats it should be five eights of an inch for every foot of overall boat length. The fly of a flag is the longer dimension; the shorter dimension is the hoist.

Burgees are to be flown from specific locations depending on the kind of boat.

•	Power boats:	From the bow of the boat.
•	Sloops:	From the masthead, not from the spreader or the bow.
•	Yawls & Ketches:	From the top of the mainmast.
•	Schooners:	From the top of the foremast.

Tradition had it that all flags were taken down at sunset and replaced by nighthawks, pennants to indicate wind direction. Years ago yacht clubs agreed to allow burgees to fly 24 hours a day.

National Ensign and Yacht Ensign.

The National Ensign should be the first flag raised in the morning, sharply at 8:00 hours to be followed by all other flags. It is the last flag to be taken down at sunset. The Yacht Ensign is like the American flag but with a fouled anchor and 13 stars on a blue field. Originally designed to distinguish yachts from commercial craft, it is to be flown in United States waters only; the National Ensign should be flown in foreign waters.

The size of the ensign should be 1 inch on the fly for each foot in length of the boat. Ensigns are flown from specific locations on the boat

•	Power boats:	From a staff at the stern rail
•	Sailboats under sail:	From the stern or from the gaff of the after most sail. For Marconi sails, the gaffis one third of the way down the sail from the masthead.
•	Sailboats under power:	From the stern.

Private Signals

House Flags and Flag Officer Flags are all flown from the aft mast or the main mast on sail boats with more than two masts. It can be flown in place of the club burgee on single mast vessels.

The private signal or house flag denotes the owner of the yacht and is designed by him or handed down in the family.

The flag officer flag is blue for Commodore, red for Vice Commodore with a white fouled anchor and 13 stars. It is white with red anchor and stars for the Rear Commodore and white with blue anchor and stars for the Fleet Captain. These flags are flow on the flag officers yachts when in club waters and on the club cruise. If cruising on a cruise of another club of which you are a member or a guest, it is not proper to fly your flag officer’s flag.

Union Jack

The Union Jack should be flown from the bow by yachts on Sunday and holidays from 8:00 am to sunset, and only at anchor, on a mooring, or at a dock; never fly the Jack while underway. The Jack is identical to the blue 50 star field of the National Ensign. Fly the Jack right side up, the stars have the single point up. It may be flown from a staff or vertically from a head stay.

Flags flown from the Starboard Spreader

The starboard spreader is use primarily for hosting signal flags, e.g. the “T” flag for hailing a launch, the “Q” flag for clearing customs, the owner ashore flag, guest flags, and other signal flags. When visiting another country the courtesy ensign, the national flag of that country, is flow on the starboard spreader.

Because of instruments at the top of masts some sailing yachts mistakenly fly the burgee from the spreader. By using a pole that holds the burgee above the instruments you can fly it in its proper masthead location.

Dressing Ship

From time to time on national holidays, at regattas, and on other special occasions you may wish to dress ship. Your International Code signal flag set should be of sufficient size to go from water line in the bow to water line in the stern. Flags and pennants are bent on alternately. Since there are twice as many letter flags as numerical pennants, the practice is to follow a sequence of two flags, one pennant, two flags, one pennant, throughout. The recommended sequence is: AB2, UJ1, KE3, GH6, IV5, FL4, DM7, PO Third Repeater, RN First Repeater, ST Zero, CX9, WQ8, ZY Second Repeater. Except in a parade you should not get under way while dressed ship.

Futher information on Flags

Click here for a history of signal flag Systems.