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Galleons' Ensign c.1520-c.1701 (Spain)

Possibly ensign of vessels operating in American waters

Last modified: 2005-02-26 by santiago dotor
Keywords: galleon | eagle (black) | order of the golden fleece | crown: royal |
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[Galleons' Ensign c.1520-c.1701 (Spain)]
by José Carlos Alegría



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Description

This ensign —documented in several charts, by different authors— is the one used by the Spanish Galleons, the biggest war vessels of the Spanish Navy at the time.

José Carlos Alegría, 23 October 2000

I have also seen this flag labelled Spanish Galleons in several sources, among them:

However, I wonder whether the flag was first spotted on a Spanish galleon but was actually much more widely used in the Spanish Navy from the early 16th century to the very end of the 17th century.

Santiago Dotor, 26 October 2000

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, a galleon was a "full-rigged sailing ship that was built primarily for war, and which developed in the 15th and 16th centuries. The name derived from "galley", which had come to be synonymous with "war vessel" and whose characteristic beaked prow the new ship retained".

Santiago Dotor, 2 February 2001