The South African Naval Ensign is a naval ensign used by ships of the

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prot ...

. A variant of the White Ensign, it features a green St George's Cross with the

South African flag The flag of South Africa was designed in March 1994 and adopted on 27 April 1994, at the beginning of South Africa's 1994 general election, to replace the flag that had been used since 1928. The flag has horizontal bands of red (on the top) ...

in the canton. South Africa has since 1922 had a variety of naval ensigns which have evolved into the current ensign adopted in 1994.

History

At the formation of the South African Naval Service in 1922, South Africa used the British White Ensign as its naval ensign, with a

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

in the canton and a red St George's Cross. Meanwhile, the South African national flag was flown as a jack. In 1946, following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, South Africa began to use a solid white ensign without the cross and with the then-current South African flag in the canton. This design was recommended by Chief of the General Staff General Sir Pierre van Ryneveld to Prime Minister Jan Smuts and accepted on 6 December 1945, with notice of the new ensign appearing in the ''

Government Gazette A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establis ...

'' on 26 July 1946. The new flag was, unlike the national flag, in the 1:2 proportion, meaning the national flag had to be stretched. The ensign was found to be difficult to identify. On 15 May 1951, Director-General of Naval Forces Commodore Frederick Dean OBE recommended a new ensign:

the national flag of the Union of South Africa with an upper hoist canton consisting of three equally wide horizontal stripes from top to bottom or orange, white and blue. The white stripe of the canton charged with a lion passant guardant Gules, supporting with the dexter paw four staves erect, alternatively Argent and Azure and banded Or, from the crest of the Coat of Arms of the Union of South Africa

It appears to have not found favour in naval circles and was, as such, never flown. In 1952, a third ensign heralded a return to the British tradition, featuring a dark green cross with the national flag in the canton. In order to accommodate the national flag in its standard 2:3 proportion, the ensign had the appearance of a Scandinavian cross. In 1959, a white

fimbriation In heraldry and vexillology, fimbriation is the placement of small stripes of contrasting colour around common charges or ordinaries, usually in order for them to stand out from the background, but often simply due to the designer's subjective ...

was added to separate the national flag from the cross. On 5 March 1981, the proportions of the ensign were changed to 2:3 and the naval badge (featuring the crest of the South African Coat of Arms on a dark blue representation of the layout of the Castle of Good Hope) was added to the lower quarter. The ensign was updated to its current form in 1994, with the national flag in the canton updated and the naval badge removed. The colour of the cross was modified slightly to match the green on the national flag.

Historical ensigns and colours

References

{{South African Navy Flags of South Africa South African Navy Naval ensigns

History

Historical ensigns and colours

See also

References