Courtesy Flags in US territories?

[Feral Cement]

The means and source of the sovereignty of ANY nation (except mine) is none of my business. When I am a guest in any foreign country, I will do my best to show respect to the people, land, waters, customs, and symbols of the nation.

I have the PR and USVI flags and intend to use them, unless instructed otherwise by the locals.

John

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Feral Cement

The means and source of the sovereignty of ANY nation (except mine) is none of my business. When I am a guest in any foreign country, I will do my best to show respect to the people, land, waters, customs, and symbols of the nation.

I have the PR and USVI flags and intend to use them, unless instructed otherwise by the locals.

John

Nothing wrong with flying the flags, but Puerto Rico and the USVI are not sovereign countries. I heard a story of one American cruiser going into Puerto Rico and asking the Immigration officer how long he would be allowed to stay. The answer: "Uh....Forever, if you want to."

[Tom and Maje]

I live in St. Thomas, and I never even saw a courtesy flag until I was in the State. Quite frankly, I wouldn't bother. If you're ensign is a US flag, it's not necessary. Just like the French islands, if you have a French courtesy flag that covers it. I really just want to fly the St. Thomas flag. Tom disagrees.

Maje

[Seymore]

Originally Posted by Seymore

So, strictly speaking, you don't fly any courtesy ensign because your ensign at your stern is their merchant marine ensign too.

I'm wrong here. I thought that the USVI and Puerto Rico's flags were the US flag, but they're not. Both have their own flags. So you fly those as courtesy ensigns.

[markpierce]

It's U.S. territory! Would a U.S. vessel be expected to fly a courtesy flag for a U.S. state it's entering? I don't believe so.

But if one likes flags for their own sake, why not if that's your desire? Still, this might imply a disrespect of the U.S. You're entering your country's territory for goodness sake.

[Emmalina]

In Brunei the boats with the biggest courtesy flags available get left alone ! Those with standad ones get asked questions or asked to leave ... Depends on them. But you should always fly a flag for the place you are visiting.

[nhschneider]

When we were in American Samoa, an American territory, we heard on the VHF the Port Captain deny permission to enter Pago Pago Harbor to a freighter because it was not flying an American Samoa courtesy flag. Illegal? Maybe. Harsh? Definitely.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by nhschneider

When we were in American Samoa, an American territory, we heard on the VHF the Port Captain deny permission to enter Pago Pago Harbor to a freighter because it was not flying an American Samoa courtesy flag. Illegal? Maybe. Harsh? Definitely.
.

What was the ship's nationality? American freighters are rare.

[hellosailor]

John-
The point is that they are NOT foreign countries. They are US possessions.


Every city, town, village, county, and state in the US has their own flag and seal. That doesn't mean you fly the Oyster Bay flag, or the Nassau County flag, or even the NY State flag when you come over from CT to visit. You're still in the same country.


50 states, one District of Columbia, and 11 insular possessions. But they all fly the same national flag.

[nhschneider]

Originally Posted by markpierce

What was the ship's nationality? American freighters are relatively rare.

I don't know what the ship's nationality was but it probably wasn't American. My point was that some places take courtesy flags very seriously even though they are, just that, a courtesy.

When we took part in the Sail Indonesia Rally in 2013, we were advised that the Indonesian government wanted the Indonesian courtesy flag to be larger than the ship's national flag. We always fly the same size courtesy flag as our national flag and both at the same height.

Fair winds and calm seas.