Can I Fly a State Flag ?

[aegean adrift]

Originally Posted by bstreep

Nope! But, the Texas flag and the Chilean flag are VERY similar.

Interesting!

Chile Flag Vs. Texas Flag: Similarity Gains Attention During Mine Rescue

Turns out I had a very different image of the Texas flag in my head. Thanks for correcting that.

[savoir]

A sailing vessel only has 3 available places to fly the national flag :

1. the tip of the mizzen gaff
2. the leech of the mizzen
3. the transom

Given the shortage of mizzen sails these days the transom has become de rigeur.

The main masthead is reserved for the owner's pennant. If the vessel was owned by the state of Alaska or its Governor ( shivver me timbers ! ) then the masthead would be the proper place to fly the state flag. svBeBe puts up the port spreader as the best suggestion for a state flag although that isn't mandatory. You could fly it from the transom below the national flag but it would look a little silly and anyway nobody has a transom flagpole that long. You could also fly it from the masthead halyard below the owner's pennant. The only mandatory place to fly an Alaskan state flag is from the masthead on a state owned vessel.

Go to any yacht club with a flagpole and you will hopefully see the burgee flown from the masthead and the national flag from the gaff. Race signals should be flown from the left, as seen from the gaff, end of the yard.

I had such a boring childhood in the sea scouts. Why couldn't I have had a misspent youth hanging around pool halls picking up chicks ?

[Laidback]

Suppose the Alaskan flag has to be flown on the coldest place on the boat ?

[savoir]

The former Governor knows that place well.

[cheoah]

I was born in Freeport in '73 and a dual national in US/Bahamas. What is an appropriate flag scheme for a dual national? Preference? Does the ships registry dictate? Should I fly the courtesy flag while in Bahamian waters?

If I were to fly both here in the US, with the Bahamian flag subordinate, would I fly BS from the mast with US on the stern? I agree that two flags on a stern pole is awkward, so one there and the rest to the spreaders? To complicate things, I'd also like to fly the N. Carolina flag -- my home state where I farm and that of my forebears for several hundred years.

Appreciate input, this thread made me curious-

c.s.

[lorenzo b]

Just fly a six ft gay rainbow flag, wear a red g-string, and stand there smiling with a pitcher of cocktails screaming Partay! Partay!

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by csh

I was born in Freeport in '73 and a dual national in US/Bahamas. What is an appropriate flag scheme for a dual national? Preference? Does the ships registry dictate? Should I fly the courtesy flag while in Bahamian waters?

If I were to fly both here in the US, with the Bahamian flag subordinate, would I fly BS from the mast with US on the stern? I agree that two flags on a stern pole is awkward, so one there and the rest to the spreaders? To complicate things, I'd also like to fly the N. Carolina flag -- my home state where I farm and that of my forebears for several hundred years.

Appreciate input, this thread made me curious-

c.s.

CSH, the appropriate flag has nothing to do with where you were born or what nationality you are. The proper ensign is ALWAYS that from the country of registry of the vessel.

Cheers,

Jim

[Bash]

Originally Posted by csh

Does the ships registry dictate?

absolutely.

[cheoah]

Thanks Jim and Bash-
c.s.

[foggysail]

This thread reminds me of supposed "anchoring etiquette!" There ain't none, no how, no way.

Foggy

[Vega1860]

Originally Posted by SV Liberty

Unicorn Dreams sounds like he has the scoop.

Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone outcruising noticed that except for Texas, and sometimes North Carolina and Maryland, almost no one else flys their state flag? In our last 3 years of cruising, we cruised the entire Gulf coast, Bahamas, and US east coast in every state south of Maine and noticed that state flags were often just not flown (except Texas boats, who sometimes fly the Lone Star in lieu of the national ensign, and almost never fail to fly the state flag).

My yankee bride/admiral refuses to allow our Texas flag to be as large as the US flag, and of course it flys below the US flag. Except, of course, when we haul out the 3 X 5 Texas flag for special occasions (which can include being anchored anywhere near Cape Cod).

Dave

Most US State flags look pretty much the same anyway unless the state has some distinguished history. So many of them are blue with some seal or design in the center that they are indistinguishable.

We have noticed, here on the west coast, you will see the Alaska flag more than any other, even in California which has its own distinctive banner. Also, no Hawaii based boat would fail to fly the flag of the Kingdom (Or state if you prefer - same flag)

We always fly the Hawaiian flag from the starboard spreader unless we are cruising in foreign waters. Then the proper courtesy flag flies there and the state flag goes to the masthead.

We fly the US Ensign, never the yacht signal, from the stern staff when motoring or at anchor and from the back stay when under sail.

The "Rules", if there be such, dictate that one should never fly two flags from the same hoist but this is often unavoidable if one wishes to display a number of flags. e.g. our NYC or AVA burgee goes beneath the state flag.

And of course, one should NEVER, NEVER fly a pirate flag while wearing white shoes.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

CSH, the appropriate flag has nothing to do with where you were born or what nationality you are. The proper ensign is ALWAYS that from the country of registry of the vessel.

Cheers,

Jim

This is correct. I am dual British and Canadian, but the boat's "all Canadian" and is federally registered by name...meaning I do not in fact have a "boat number" or license number on display at all. Only if I transferred the registry to Britain (and that's not likely!) would I be entitled to fly the Red Duster.

Note that the Red Duster (civilian ensign for British boats) is NOT a courtesy flag, although I've seen it enough as such. The Union flag would be flown from the starboard spreader halyard of a sloop-rigged vessel (and it's possible to get it upside down!).

I have never seen an objection to flying other flags beneath this courtesy flag, like maybe the Welsh or Scots or even the EU flags, as long as the Union flag is on top when visiting British ports.

The same would apply to any "dualie", I would think. The exception in Britain is that serving (and perhaps retired) members of the various armed forces can opt for those respective ensigns on their privately owned yachts.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by foggysail

This thread reminds me of supposed "anchoring etiquette!" There ain't none, no how, no way.

That's simply not true, regardless of how emphatically the denial is articulated. Port Captains in Mexico, for example, are quite particular about the need to fly the Mexican courtesy flag from the starboard spreader. Someone flying a state flag in that place could be subjected to fines, or at least a great deal of official harassment. I've known this to happen to someone who mistakenly thought he was only required to fly the courtesy flag while underway, but not while he was in a marina.

When you are a guest in another country, you play by their rules. That's not only good manners, but is a matter of law.

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by Bash

That's simply not true, regardless of how emphatically the denial is articulated. Port Captains in Mexico, for example, are quite particular about the need to fly the Mexican courtesy flag from the starboard spreader. Someone flying a state flag in that place could be subjected to fines, or at least a great deal of official harassment. I've known this to happen to someone who mistakenly thought he was only required to fly the courtesy flag while underway, but not while he was in a marina.

When you are a guest in another country, you play by their rules. That's not only good manners, but is a matter of law.

Well OK. Maybe there is also a port captain in Malobo, Cameroon who would have the same insistence. But it really comes back to how I interpreted the OP's meaning of "State." One thinks of Mexico as a country although it has state status which is different than that of states in this country. I took the OP's question to apply to etiquette in US water.

And certainly, when you're in another country, you are the foreigner.

Foggy

[Maren]

Originally Posted by Strygaldwir

I have I don't recall reading any Col regs that require the flying of flags.

Hmmm, I think you're right. Likely because the COLREGs have to do with collision avoidance.