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The United States Yacht Ensign. A modification of the national flag and ensign but with a fouled anchor in a circle of thirteen stars in the canton, was created by Act of Congress in August 1848 as a flag to be used by licensed U.S. yachts. [14] [15] The design was recommended by the New York Yacht Club in 1849. [16]
The commercial flag was created to allow these private individuals to declare their nationality. Some countries have a specific yacht ensign for recreational boats without declared cargo, which differs from the regular ensign. Merchant flags can only be flown by ships that are not ships of war, ships of state, auxiliary ships or yachts.
A yacht ensign is a flag allowed by some nations to be hoisted as the national ensign (instead of the civil ensign) by yachts. As with any other civil ensign , the yacht ensign is the largest flag on board, and is normally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship.
Contrary to popular belief the United States Navy does dip the Stars and Stripes in acknowledgement of salutes rendered to it. Merchant vessels traditionally fly the ensign of the nation in whose territorial waters they are sailing at the starboard yard-arm. This is known as a courtesy flag, as for yachts.
One or more flags form a code word whose meaning can be looked up in a code book held by both parties. An example is the Popham numeric code used at the Battle of Trafalgar . In yacht racing and dinghy racing , flags have other meanings; for example, the P flag is used as the "preparatory" flag to indicate an imminent start, and the S flag ...
It is also known as the merchant ensign or merchant flag. Some countries have special civil ensigns for yachts, and even for specific yacht clubs, known as yacht ensigns. Most countries have only one national flag and ensign for all purposes. In other countries, a distinction is made between the land flag and the civil, state and naval ensigns.
The British ensigns, for example, differ from the flag used on land (the Union Flag) and have different versions of plain and defaced Red and Blue ensigns for civilian and state use, as well as the naval ensign (White Ensign). Some naval ensigns differ in shape from the national flag, such as the Nordic naval ensigns, which have 'tongues'.
The body of the flag contains 13 vertical blue and white stripes. This flag was designed by Roger Upton and Charles F. Chapman for the United States Power Squadrons, and by 1915, the flag was officially adopted by the organization. The design and other specifications of this ensign are described in the USPS bylaws and also in the operations manual.