The Flag of the Admiralty

Posted in Flags, Sea, Ships on Tuesday, 15 March 2011

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This edited article about flag of the Admiralty originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 920 published on 8 September 1979.

The flag of the Admiralty is a plain red flag with a clear anchor in the centre in yellow. First flown by James, Duke of York, when he was Lord High Admiral, the flag was adopted by the Board of Commissioners which was appointed in 1628 to carry out the office of Lord High Admiral. In 1691 the Commissioners directed that “a red silk flag with the anchor and cable therein” be made for the Board’s barge.

The anchor symbol is still seen on navy uniforms

The anchor symbol is still seen on navy uniforms

Thirty-four years later, the flag showed the anchor cable twisted around the stock of the anchor. This change was made presumably to produce a more pleasing design, but it had the effect of producing a most unseamanlike object – a fouled anchor – as the symbol of the Admiralty. This was very strange indeed, since the First Lord of the Admiralty was himself an experienced sailor.

It was not until 1815 that the design of the flag was made more seamanlike by clearing the cable from the anchor. And the fouled anchor is still used to decorate the buttons and badges of Royal Navy uniforms!

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