Page 52 - MustangEbook

harbour and by those moored or at anchor. yardam (preferred) or at the fore yardam,
Ships at sea do not observe this custom. starboard or port as appropriate.

COMMISSIONING FLAG BLUE ENSIGN

Commissioning Flag

The Commissioning Pennant is the mark of a
Navy ship in active service. It is first flown on Blue Ensign
the main mast when the ship is commissioned
and taken down when it is decommissioned. The State Marine Ensign is a blue ensign with
The Singapore's pennant is a red longitudinal the top left hand quarter of red charged with a
stripe that bears the country's crescent moon crescent sided by five stars in a circle all in
and five stars and it is flown at all times as white and an eight pointed red and white star
long as a ship is in commissioned (active) in the lower right hand corner.
status.
The colour blue is symbolic of the sea, the
As professional navies began to take form in crescent and stars are from the State Flag and
the late 1600s and the need to distinguish their the eight pointed star represents the mariner’s
ships from merchant ships at a distance arose, compass.
navies adopted long narrow flags to be flown
by their ships on the main masthead. Early The Blue Ensign is flown by vessels or boats
flags and pennants were very large, so as to be of Government departments and statutory
easily visible. By 1870, the largest pennant on boards, namely the Police Coast Guard,
record measured 21.3m long. Immigration and Checkpoint Authority,
Over time, the flying of flags and pennants Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and
became standard naval practice. Even as vessels leased by RSN, such as M.V Avatar.
warships took on distinctive forms and could
no longer be mistaken for merchant ships, RED ENSIGN
flags and pennants continued to be flown, but
shrunk to a fraction of their earlier size.

This flag doubles as the Commanding
Officer’s pennant. This flag is to be flown at
all times, unless there is a need to fly a
distinguishing flag.

The alternative position for hoisting of Red Ensign
Ensigns at sea when the gaff or other centre
line position is not available, is at the main The Red Ensign is a civil ensign used by
privately owned non-military ships that are
registered in Singapore. The ensign was