What flags do you fly?

[Crikey]

I dreamed up this post because I was researching a neat flag to run at our annual MMOR (Mad men of Ontario Rendezvous) event this year. What I've come up with so far is this:
http://blog.albanach.org/2006/05/macgregor-tartans.html
Not the final word, as it's a very contentious subject! (I'll have to consult Highlander at some point)
Point being; We should all know to run our country of origin at the stern, with a courtesy nation flag (the one we're in) at the bow - or the mid staff. Home club flag on one of the stays a/or including a personal pirate/booze waver.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's also ok to also stream the birth flags of the occupants, if different than the country of residence or origin. So that could, in my case, give me (in Canada) a Maple leaf on the stern; an Aussie flag and a German flag (for the Admiral) on the port stay; a Jordan Yacht pennant on the starboard stay, and a power squadron or visiting flag on the bow position.
I purposefully left out the optional pennant at the masthead, but comments are welcome there also...
Do I have this right?

Ross

[Crikey]

Bye the Bye, the MacGregor Flag:


R.

[topcat0399]

Good lord all that?

What do you need sails for???

[sunshinecoasting]

Hi Ross, I never gave much thought to a flag, I have a jolly roger flying off my VHF antenna on the rear port quarter but only to use as a tell tale, maybe I need to get me a Aussie flag, trouble is no one here fly's them coz we all know where we come from, the only people that fly them here are not from here. I'd love an Aussie flag spinnaker though, that would be awesome.

cheers, Dennis.

[Don T]

Hello,
I have a US flag high up on the backstay, an Oregon flag on the port shroud and the admirals Hawaiian flag on the starboard shroud. I suppose I should have a maple leaf at the bow when I cruise the gulf islands but I've never really worried about it. There's nothing up there to attach it to anyway.

[Russ]

Flag etiquette is complicated both on land and on vessels.
Here's some info.
http://www.usps.org/f_stuff/etiquett.

We fly 2 flags. The US ensign from the pseudo leech of our main (the backstay). It's not perfect etiquette but looks nice. We also fly our local power squadron burgee off our spreader. This is NOT proper etiquette as it is supposed to be flown off the top of the mast, but I have too much junk up there I don't want it to get tangled, and a pig stick is hard to deal with. Besides, there is nobody around me that knows enough flag etiquette to bust me on this.

[RobertB]

2 small flags: a "Pirates of the Chesapeake" and a cocktail flag. Any questions?

[Highlander]

Well I did not fly any flags last yr , but this yr I plan on flying all my shroud flags , my canuck flag , & my Scottish flag
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 11-3-1.jpg

Here's my shroud flags on my these r the same flags & set-up on my
flying @ the spreaders helps keep the birds off them
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/m ... CN1406.jpg

Geoff & myself will be flying these mutli coloured pennant flats when @ anchor or slipped for the evening
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=50445
you can see a pic of them here on the bottom left pge
http://catalogs.westmarine.com/WebProje ... elabel=848

Ross notice the aft berth opening ports I installed on my below the deck hull joint , I would not do that again , it sure looked good inside & out but !!

J

[fishheadbarandgrill]

We fly the Stars and Stripes from the mast crutch
My club burgee and club officer flag from the stbd hoist
And an NC State University flag and Soggy Dollar Bar Skull and Crossbones from the port hoist

I have a rail mount on the bow rail to fly my club burgee when I'm underway without the mast.

Bob

[dlandersson]

A small US ensign on the right sidestay and an small aremy ensign on the left sidestary. US ensign is a tad higher. Looks nice and act as wind indicators.

[Freedom77]

We fly the U.S. ensign from the stern. This is the stars and stripes with thirteen stars in a circle and an anchor in the middle of the stars. Past Commodore flag and Yacht Club Burgee from the starboard shroud below the spreader. Fair winds and full sails...Old Salt.

[NiceAft]

Highlander said:

Well I did not fly any flags last yr , but this yr I plan on flying all my shroud flags , my canuck flag , & my Scottish flag

This is my version of his photo.


Ray

[Tomfoolery]

I fly the Yacht Ensign from a pole nav light on the stern (starboard side) that the PO used for an anchor light. I have a Trailer Sailor pennant that I've had for years that I fly from a bow staff when in trawler mode.

In Canadian waters, which I haven't taken this boat into since I got it (but used to do a lot in the last boat), I fly the US Ensign from the stern (the yacht ensign isn't recognized as an 'official' country flag in foreign waters), and a Canadian courtesy flag from the starboard spreader.

Tea time means the cocktail flag, but I only have one spreader flag halyard, so it has to go below the Canadian courtesy flag. It should be on the port spreader, but I don't want to clutter things up any more than it already is.

[Crikey]

Love that pic! I could've picked one up at the Orillia Scottish festival this year but because I've no family background in that area (John has) decided it was improper to do so. However the traditional MacGregor tartan could be appropriate. Problem is, so many variations!


Pennants on stays do give useful information about wind direction, particularly with a rotating mast.
I guess the reason the Aussies don't fly flags as often as the Canadians do, is because when sailing the Great Lakes it's handier to identify the other ship, before giving them a broadside.

R.

[dlandersson]

We on the south side are constantly on the lookout for a Canadian invading fleet.

I guess the reason the Aussies don't fly flags as often as the Canadians do, is because when sailing the Great Lakes it's handier to identify the other ship, before giving them a broadside.

R.