The owner’s flag – or racing, regatta, or private signal flag, as it’s otherwise known – was once so recognized that, at the turn of the 19th century, Lloyd’s and KNZ&RV regularly published the flags in their annual yearbooks and registers. However, having faced many hurdles over the decades, the art has somewhat fallen out of favour.
It is believed that owner’s flags have existed since the times of the Romans or even the Egyptians. Modern-day owner’s flags appear to have been first cultivated in the world of yacht racing, which was a 17th-century Dutch tradition that gained popularity overseas in the 18th and 19th centuries. In fact, the owner’s flags section in Lloyd’s initial Register of Yachts is titled “Racing Flags of Yachts.”
The Koninklijke Nederlandsche Zeil- & Roeivereeniging (KNZ&RV or Royal Dutch Sailing & Rowing Association) also has a section on owner’s flag etiquette that specifies:
- “The owner’s flag is used as a racing flag in a sailing competition at the highest point instead of the club standard, which must be lowered in a competition.”
The section also hints at the time period and popularity of the tradition: - “On all yachts of members of the KNZ&RV, in the past, and certainly before the Second World War, owner’s flags were flown. So much attention was paid to recognition that all owner’s flags were always printed in multi-colour in the Yearbooks of the Association, provided with name and surname.”
However, it appears the tradition expanded to encompass non-racing recreational yachts sometime after its inception. In order to learn more about owner’s flags – and take a peek at the flag designs – I explored Lloyd’s online Register of Yachts archive.
Yacht Racing Flags, Lloyd’s Register of Yachts (1887)
During its decades of operation, Lloyd’s has released various registers, including the Register of British and Foreign Shipping Register of Yachts. The initial edition was released in 1878 and is not to be confused with Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, which was first published in 1764.
The Register of Yachts features – as made obvious in the volume’s title – the details of various British and foreign yachts. Yes, it includes their dimensions, ownership, builder, build year, port, and other important vessel information, for example. But also important maritime flags.
From 1878 to 1886, the Yacht Registers only feature an Appendix with various yacht club flags. Being specific to the yacht or sailing club, these flags are not deemed owner’s flags. However, you will note the use of colour print, which wasn’t the norm for the rest of the monotone Registers.
Image credit: Lloyd’s Register Foundation, Heritage & Education Centre, Lloyd’s Register Of Yachts 1887
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Just under a decade after its inception in 1878, the 1887 Register of British and Foreign Shipping Yacht Register has a surprise for us. In the Appendix, we’re greeted with an additional 9 pages of delightful owner’s flag illustrations, also in colour print, just after the yacht club flags.
We see various owner’s flags, including one for the Red Rose (bottom row, 4th on the left), fittingly owned by Lord de Ros (1827 – 1892). Lloyd’s generally only published details of yachts and ships over 100 gross tonnes in its Yacht Registers. However, the racing flags published belonged to racing yachts, many of which were much smaller vessels. For example, the Red Rose was only 6 tons.
Image credit: Lloyd’s Register Foundation, Heritage & Education Centre, Lloyd’s Register Of Yachts 1887
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Yachting – and the racing of yachts, in particular – has always been a costly hobby. So it’s no surprise that we can spot many famous names amongst the flags. Most of the yachts belonged to or were skippered by the 19th-century elite, including notable individuals in the maritime industry, graduates of Eton, Yale, and Harvard, and members of powerful families like the Forbes of Boston. Many of the yacht owners also entered their vessels or even skippered them in world-renowned races like the America’s Cup.
Yacht Racing Flag Symbols and Colouring
Featured racing flag symbols and colours range from national flag colours and emblems to family crests and more personal motifs. Of course, embellishment was limited for visibility’s sake. Interestingly, the KNZ&RV website actually specifies the acceptable design of owner’s flags:
“An owner’s flag is a personal flag that an owner flies on all his ships. This flag is rectangular, approximately in proportion 2:3, and the images and colour schemes can be designed according to one’s own wishes. The image can be composed of heraldic colours from the family crest but can also be based on other symbolism or complete fantasy.
In order to prevent confusion at sea and differences in interpretation, it must be prevented that owner’s flags resemble national flags of other countries, signal flags or flags with a different meaning.
The dimensions are approximately the same as those of the rectangular association standard for board members.”
However, creativity was definitely on show. Typical crest emblems like roses, Fleur De Lis, lions, and Maltese cross and Union Jack variations join crowns, stars, crescent moons, birds, insects, and numerous other unique adornments – like skulls and crossbones. However, whether or not this is surprising for an owner’s flag is definitely debatable.
Colour Coordination of the Flags Circa 1888
As you saw earlier, in the initial 1887 edition, the racing flags are organized alphabetically by ship type (schooner, yawl, cutters & sloops, luggers, etc.). However, in the 1888 edition (and onwards), all racing flags are arranged by colour, probably for easier identification. This arrangement endured until the very end of the section of the Register of Yachts, which speaks to its efficacy.
We can spot the flag for the Dolly Varden, which belongs to a G. R. Ratsey, likely George Rogers Ratsey, founder of the sailmaking firm of his name and the father of Thomas Ratsey. We can also spot the interesting colour-coordinating white and red heart flag of the unknown Torfrida below.
Image credit: Lloyd’s Register Foundation, Heritage & Education Centre, Lloyd’s Register Of Yachts 1888
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The selection of flags also grew from 9 pages up to 14 in the 1888 edition. Maybe because not everyone had heard that they could submit their racing flag for the 1887 edition. Or, after viewing the flags, they may have been inspired to create their own racing flag for the first time.
The Popularity of Private Signal Flags in the 19th Century
Credit: Graphs by Caitlin Greyling
Over the years, Lloyd’s Register of Yachts went through many changes. We can track the popularity of owner’s flags through the volumes by counting the number of flags listed in each year’s Register.
Credit: Graphs by Caitlin Greyling
We see a steady uptake of the owner’s flag – at that time termed a “racing flag” in Lloyd’s Yacht Register – from the 1880s up to 1900. The tradition did exist prior to the advent of the Yacht Register, and for every flag listed in it, there are likely countless that weren’t.
In fact, many who had a published flag were subscribers, and ‘being in the Register of Yachts was a mark of pride, and the audience very niche,” according to Luca Rapisarda of Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
However, the Yacht Register does hint at the popularity of owner’s flag throughout the decades.
Credit: Graphs by Caitlin Greyling
In the 1902 Lloyd’s Yacht Register, Lloyd’s updated the section name from “Racing Flags of Yachts” to “Distinguishing Flags of Yachts.” At this point, it seems the trend had extended outside of the racing sphere into the private yachting world – and was possibly at its peak, too.
You see, from 1902 up until 1914, when World War I started, the number of flags listed in the Yacht Register numbered around 1500–1800. The highest number of flags the Yacht Register would ever feature. As a result, the flags also took up around 90 or so pages in each edition (separate from the yacht club flags) – a far cry from the 9 pages of flags in the first 1887 edition.
The table also got an update shortly after. In the 1905 edition, the flag table was enlarged to an 8 x 8 grid, which could accommodate 64 flags per page. Previously, it was a 5 x 8 grid in which only 40 flags fit. It seems the change was done to lower the Yacht Register’s page count, which it achieved: its page count was reduced by around 400 pages as a result.
Pre-WWII , swastikas were a common flag symbol. In fact, the symbol originates from India, and the right-facing version pictured above symbolizes the Sun, prosperity, and good luck in Hinduism. The Nazi swastika is also right-facing but sits point down, not flat.
Image credit: Lloyd’s Register Foundation, Heritage & Education Centre, Lloyd’s Register Of Yachts 1915
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Between 1916 and 1921, there’s no record of the “Distinguishing Flags of Yachts” section. Lloyd’s hasn’t archived any copies for 1916, 1917, and 1918, and the 1919, 1920, and 1921 editions that are archived lack this flag section.
Luca informed me that “the editions 1916–18 and 1940–45 were discontinued due to the ongoing wars.” Additionally, “the section on distinguished flags was removed in 1919–21 and added back in 1922.” However, the reason why is not recorded.
Credit: Graphs by Caitlin Greyling
The distinguishing flags section does indeed make a re-appearance after WWI in the 1922 Yacht Register but is now cut down to 9 pages of flags. It’s possible that the trend had gone somewhat out of style after WWI due to security reasons.
In times of war, vessels are often required to display national flags to identify themselves in friendly waters. So it’s also likely that owners’ flags took second place to national flags during and after the war. National flags first appeared in the 1930 Register of Yachts. By 1938, national flags were placed before all the other flags, even the sailing club flags.
That said, the 1923 Yacht Register features 17 pages of distinguishing flags – around twice as many as the 1922 edition. From 1924 to 1928, this number ballooned up to 20 pages before dropping back down to 19 pages in 1929. So, the trend of publishing and displaying owner’s flags definitely came back into style during the 20s after the war ended.
The likely cause for the decline in 1929 and thereafter is clear, though. The Great Depression began in 1929 and lasted until 1939 when WWII started. The Depression wasn’t enough to destroy yacht racing and ownership entirely. However, many yachts lay idle or were sold for less than their worth – or even for scrap – by the countless who could no longer afford to operate them.
Credit: Graphs by Caitlin Greyling
From 1940 – 1945, there are no archived Lloyd’s Yacht Register or flag records to review, as the edition was temporarily discontinued again. WWII (1939 – 1945) resulted in even more drastic changes in recreational yachting and racing. Yes, partially because many of those who enjoyed sailing were either drafted or concentrated financially or otherwise on the war effort.
But also because, for those still in possession of yachts, recreational boating was banned in most coastal areas, estuaries, and rivers. Freshwater sailing in non-restricted lakes and inland river areas became a trend, allowing racing to continue throughout the war, if only in a dingy sometimes, depending on the situation. However, times were not at all like they were before. The situation was possibly worse than the Great Depression that preceded, and even WWI.
After the war ended in 1945, private signal popularity had lessened but did resurge slightly, if not to its former glory, as the KNZ&RV owner’s flag etiquette section states. Throughout the 1950s, interest remained steady. However, starting from the late 1950s onwards, the decolonization of Africa and parts of Asia, South America, and other foreign territories started.
1960s–2000: No More Private Signal, Racing, or Distinguished Flags
From the late 1950s, many African countries fought for and gained independence, forming multiple new countries. Due to the changing landscape, publishing national flags may also have become a challenging task, let alone owner’s flags. This is likely not only because of the increased number of countries but also the tensions with prior colonies.
After 1960, the entire flag section – including yacht club, international code of signal, national, and private signal flags – vanishes entirely from archived Lloyd’s Register of Yacht editions, replaced instead by geographical lists of the details of sailing and yacht club authorities and similar textual data.
By 1981, the Register itself was renamed Lloyd’s Register Of Classed Yachts and reduced to around 100 pages of only yachts that have been classed by Lloyd’s. Around the turn of the 20th century – coinciding with the commercialization of the internet – it was discontinued entirely. So, it’s impossible to track any further data on the private flags from 1960 onwards.
Apparently, the Yacht Register was “discontinued in the early 00s because not commercially viable,” according to Luca.
Today, it’s easy to assume that privacy has also taken precedence over prestige, with many yacht owners wishing to remain anonymous and not attract attention to their assets due to safety concerns, be they political, economic, national, or otherwise.
Raising Your Own Owner’s Flag
While the tradition did fall out of favour, it was never completely lost – and there is some indication it is coming back into fashion. On the KNZ&RV website, the Association says:
- “On modern, sharp seagoing racing ships, this custom has unfortunately fallen into disuse for practical reasons. On round and flat-bottomed yachts this custom is slowly returning.”
Whether you have an owner’s flag or now wish to create your own or buy one, it’s important to acquaint yourself with the rules of flying it, though. As the KNZ&RV states:
- “The owner’s flag is, furthermore, on both sailing yachts and motor yachts, only flown when stationary in a harbour or at anchor, in the starboard shrouds at 2/3 height, or under the starboard spreader. On yachts with more than one mast in the starboard shrouds of the foremast; on schooners, the owner’s flag may be flown at the top of the foremast.
When leaving the harbour or weighing anchor, the owner’s flag is lowered first. The owner’s flag is, therefore, not flown during normal sailing: the origin of this is to prevent confusion with signal flags.”
Most importantly:
- “Flying the owner’s flag indicates that the owner of the yacht is on board and is willing to receive uninvited visitors.”
That is unless you hoist a blue flag below your owner’s flag, which signifies that you don’t want to receive any guests.
To Conclude
Owner’s flags and symbols have been around for a very, very long time, but many events have had a detrimental effect on their popularity today. Not least, the many drastic changes in recreational yachting and sailing as a result of wars, nationalism, politics, maritime regulation, and the ever-changing economy and landscape.
It’s interesting to see how the tradition has adapted to each of these events and eras. And I can certainly say the private signal is not an entirely lost art just yet!
Can you add that when a blue flag is hoisted below the owners flag, one then does not wish to receive guests.
