Last modified: 2009-08-15 by dov gutterman
Keywords: bahamas | civil ensign | naval ensign | the bahamas |
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According to Smith (1975) [smi75], the Bahamas has three "cross" flags, each with the national flag in the canton:
Nick Artimovich, 29 April 1996
Concering all three ensigns in Album 2000 [pay00] - Difference regarding the
images below is in width of the cross. However, I believe that
Album might here more exact, but it seems that other sources I
have consulted in brief does not give definitive anwser. In some
[smi80, smi75, zna99)]the
width of cross is aparently equal to the width of the three
stripes of the flag in canton (so it 1/7 of hight), while
Smipmate Chart and Album 2000 (and 1990 corr. 26) have the cross
thinner (say 1/8 of height). WFD, have surprisingly something
else - the cross horizontal bar seem even wider the 1/7 (but it
is not easy to judge that), but also the vertical bar is notably
much wider.
Another question that is connected to the one above is the shape
of the trangle in canton flag - is it streched as the national
flag is (to fill up the canton), or are only the stripes streched
and the trangles is still equilateral? I suspect that the last
might be true, but...
In case I am right in this last one, the images in Album are
wrong
Željko Heimer, 7 Febuary 2001
I agree. It is a mistake.
Armand du Payrat, 16 Febuary 2001
About 4 or 5 months ago, a Bahamian yacht weighed anchor here
in Penang. She was displaying a nice 3x6 foot Bahamas red ensign.
I was able to measure it out.
The arms of its cross were exactly 4.5 inches wide. It also had a
label on it that said "Crafted in the Bahamas". There
was no brand name though. The heading was roped with Inglefield
clips on both ends. The ensign was sewn and not printed except
for the Bahamian flag upper fly canton. It was printed.
What was interesting to me was that the canton was printed almost
exactly 15.75 inches by 33.75 inches meaning it had to have been
intentionally printed up to be a canton and not a regular
Bahamian flag.
That made me begin to wonder if the same manufacturer might be
making Defence force ensigns as well with the 1/8 cross.
Additionally, a friend of mine had extended business
in the Bahamas earlier this year. I asked him to photograph as
many flags and ensigns as he could see when he was messing around
on his free time. All I ended up with was national flags, red
ensigns and several Defence Force ensign pictures. The red
ensigns were all over the place as far as over all proportions
were concerned, but several 1:2 types did show up and several of
them had skinnier crosses. With that said, a bunch of them had
wider crosses as well.
At the same time, the Defence force ensign pics were pretty
consistent and depicted red crosses that I believe would measure
out more closely to 1/8 than 1/7.
Clay Moss, 29 April 2009
(1:2)
image by Clay Moss, 29 April 2009
(1:2)
variant
image by Clay Moss, 29 April 2009
I saw a flag on a ship that I am not able to identify using
your Flag Detective site. The flag was like the flag of Denmark
but the upper left quadrant of the red cross design was blue with
a yellow pennant coming into the blue quadrant from the left edge
of the flag. The name of the ship was the Tecam Sea. Any ideas?
Bob Wilson, 6 August 1999
Sounds like the civil ensign of the Bahamas - many ships out
there are of Bahamian registry because of tax laws, so you would
see its flag on the seas quite a bit. It looks like the Danish
flag (a red flag with a narrow white St. George's cross, and 1:2
proportions), with the Bahamas flag in the canton (upper-left
corner).
David Kendall, 6 August 1999
Merchant Vessel registered in Bahamas hoist the Bahamas civil
ensign. A foreign Flag merchant vessel calling at a Bahamian port
for commercial operations will hoist it too. There is no minimum
size to the emsign, it just depends on the ships size.
Jose C. Alegria, 6 October 2000
In September I could make a photo of a Bahamas civil ensign.
It was on a vessel of Celebrity Cruises in the lagoon of Venice.
Unlike the usual 1:2 ratio this flag had the 2:3 proportion.
Perhaps this has flag-dynamic and aesthetic reasons. A cloth with
2:3 or 3:5 ratio flutters easier in the wind than a more longish
one. The 2:3 and the 3:5 ratios are nearer to the "golden
rectangle" which is made with the golden ratio of 1.618.
Martin Karner, 12 January 2006
Proportions of 2:3 or 3:5 are seen globally far more than the
1:2 types. It has been a while since I was in the Bahamas, but
when I was there, I rarely saw any kind of flag or ensign
proportioned 1:2. Almost everything with the exception of a very
few government flags were 2:3 or 3:5. Come to think of it, I
don't recall ever seeing a 1:2 Bahamian red ensign in Bahamian
waters.
Clay Moss, 13 January 2006
The reasons are, I would suggest, more likely to be commercial
than aesthetic, and the fact remains that 1:2 is the correct
ratio for defaced UK and related defaced ensigns (however many
may be made differently).
Christopher Southworth, 13 January 2006
(1:2)
image by Clay Moss, 29 April 2009
(1:2)
variant
image by Clay Moss, 29 April 2009
Aircraft Marking
"The Bahamas Defence Force planes [they got two....]
carries the BDF flag on their fin."
The illustration shows a flag same as The Naval Ensign , but with
nerrower hands of the cross and also outlined in red.
Source: Military Aircraft Insignia of the World [c2e98]
Dov Gutterman, 7 Febuary 2000
In the pasr years they had only one (and even this one is out
of service after ditching). In the past they had other 4 planes,
all out of service today.
Photo of the sole RBDF Cessna 421C Golden Eagle (now on the sea
bottom) with a view of the RBDF flag on the tail (we at <www.lamilitary.com>.
The Air Wing was formed in 1982.
Dov Gutterman, 11 June 2004
(1:2)
image by Clay Moss, 29 April 2009
(1:2)
variant
image by Clay Moss, 29 April 2009
I found in Smith (1975) [smi75]
the state ensign of Bahamas: white British ensign with a blue
cross. The blue of the cross is obviously darker then the one of
the Bahamas flag in the canton - one of the rare examples of two
shades of blue touching each other!
In his 1980 book [smi80] Smith
doesn't give any state ensign for Bahamas. Is this still in use
and forgotten by Whitney, or is it rather other way around -
forgotten by the Bahamians and remembered by Whitney?
Željko Heimer, 7 October 1996
According ot Album des Pavillons [pay], this ensign is now used by the
Reserve Navy.
Ivan Sache, 30 March 1999
Concering L'Album 2000 [pay00],
shouldn't the naval reserve ensign be rather classified as
variant civil ensign?
The naval reserve ensign is hoisted by private vessels, right?
Željko Heimer, 5 January 2001
Yes. I agree.
Armand Noel du Payrat (author of [pay00]), 8 January 2001
In National flags and distinctive markings - Change Nr 1 [pay01] - Page BA 1.1 - Naval
Reserve ensign - Change in the FIAV grid. Dot moved from
"State ensign" to "civil ensign".
Ivan Sache, 8 October 2001
The flag with the Blue St George's cross is the "State
Ensign" which I suppose is the same as "Government
Ensign". There is also a Blue Ensign, but it is defaced and
we don't illustrate it.
According to Barraclough: "Consular Officers have a flag of
navy blue with the National Flag in the canton and the whole arms
in the fly"
Martin Grieve, 29 April 2009
(1:2)
image by Clay Moss, 29 April 2009
In Album 2000 [pay00] - Civil
Jack. 1:2 - This is the same flag as The Civil
Ensign, but swallow-tailed. How "deep" is the
indentation, I don't know, about 1/3 of lenght, maybe good
approximation. (It's certainly less then the triangle from the
national flag would be set here.
Željko Heimer, 7 Febuary 2001
