A battle ensign is the name given to a large

war ensign A naval ensign is an ensign (maritime flag) used by naval ships of various countries to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from a country's civil ensign or state ensign. It can also be known as a war ensign. A large ve ...

(

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

) hoisted on a

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...

's mast just before going into battle. In what could become a very confusing situation with thick clouds of gunsmoke the

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

gave additional identification, hence their large size, which for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

in the 17th and 18th centuries was about . It was commonly accepted that so long as a ship flew its ensign it was an active participant in battle; prior to action it was an acceptable ruse to fly a

false flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...

. If a ship surrendered then it would take down its ensign (which was known as

striking the colors Striking the colors—meaning lowering the flag (the " colors") that signifies a ship's or garrison's allegiance—is a universally recognized indication of surrender, particularly for ships at sea. For a ship, surrender is dated from the time th ...

). This is also the origin of the phrase " To nail one's colours to the mast", showing a determination to fight on and never surrender. In practice, warships would fly more than one battle ensign, so that if the flag was destroyed or brought down during the fighting there would be no confusion. Conversely, keeping the flag flying even though the ship might appear to be past fighting was a sign of determination rather than foolishness. The German battleship ''Bismarck'' continued to fly its battle ensign even after all its gun batteries had been silenced by British shells, and sank with the ensign still flying. The battle ensign was seen as an important element for the morale of the crew and was held in high regard. If a warship was sinking and had to be abandoned, flags such as the battle ensigns would be taken off the ship before it sank and were entrusted to the senior (surviving) officer. Some countries use their

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours a ...

as the battle ensign, while others use their

naval ensign A naval ensign is an ensign (maritime flag) used by naval ships of various countries to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from a country's civil ensign or state ensign. It can also be known as a war ensign. A large ve ...

. Sometimes unique flags were made and used as battle ensigns, for example the one flown by United States Naval Forces at the

Battle of Lake Erie The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shore of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the Briti ...

in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

. The battle ensign is sometimes also flown by

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

warships as a courtesy when entering or leaving foreign ports, or on national holidays when it is referred to as "Holiday Colors."

Examples

In the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, battle ensigns from American warships and battle ensigns captured from enemy ships are displayed at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

. The battle ensign flown from USS ''Arizona'' during the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

by the Japanese Naval Air Forces on December 7, 1941 was badly stained with oil and it was burned as being 'unfit for further use', before anyone thought to save it. From the start of the Naval Battle of Casablanca during

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – 16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while al ...

, the flew an extra-large battle ensign in the hopes the French Forces would decide not to fight the U.S. Navy. The French decided to fight, and the ''Massachusetts'' continued to fly the large battle ensign, throughout the battle. The uses the flag of the

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act i ...

as its battle ensign in commemoration of the actions of the NYPD during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. The British

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...

has in its collection a battle ensign taken from the Spanish ''San Ildefonso'', captured at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1 ...

which measures . An ensign from the French '' Généreux'' of was captured by HMS ''Foudroyant'' in 1800, and presented by its captain, one time Flag Captain of Lord Nelson, to the City of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

. On 9 November 1914, wore a large Australian National Flag as a battle ensign from the mainmast during her celebrated victory over German warship SMS ''Emden'' at the

Battle of Cocos The Battle of Cocos was a single-ship action that occurred on 9 November 1914, after the Australian light cruiser , under the command of John Glossop, responded to an attack on a communications station at Direction Island by the German light c ...

. The battle was the first naval clash and first victory for the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister o ...

. In the early days of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Captain F. S. Bell of the cruiser gave the order to hoist five 24' by 12' (7·32m by 3·66m) battle ensigns from the main topmast, port and starboard yardarms, the top mizzen and the lower mizzen as ''Exeter'' turned to engage the German pocket battleship ''Admiral Graf Spee'', which significantly outgunned her (660lb shells against 256lb shells), during the

Battle of the River Plate The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, command ...

. During the

battle of the North Cape The Battle of the North Cape was a Second World War naval battle that occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the Arctic campaign. The , on an operation to attack Arctic Convoys of war materiel from the Western Allies to the Soviet Union, wa ...

, after being ordered to close with and engage the German battleship ''Scharnhorst'' with torpedoes, Captain

Skule Storheill Skule Valentin Storheill (17 August 1907–25 November 1992) was a Norwegian naval officer who reached prominence in World War II while serving aboard Norwegian warships within the Royal Navy, and received Norway's highest military decoratio ...

of the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS ''Stord'' ordered the ship's battle ensign to be hoisted on the mainmast, so "those bastards can see who they're dealing with!" Nils Owren, at the 13:00 mar
"HØR: Skule Storheill og "Scharnhorst"-slaget 2. juledag 1943" (in Norwegian).
''Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation'', 20 October 2010. Retrieved: 6 January 2016

References

{{Reflist Ensigns Naval warfare Types of flags Military symbols

Examples

See also

References