British Flags: Their Early History, and Their Development at Sea: With an Account of the Origin of the Flag as a National DevicePerrin, William Gordon
History
British Flags: Their Early History, and Their Development at Sea: With an Account of the Origin of the Flag as a National Device
Perrin, William Gordon
Flags -- Great Britain
The subordinate "badge" flag was now promoted to the dignity of a
"standard" and flown at the masthead as a substitute for the royal
standard when the Lord Admiral was unable to fly the latter, because of
the presence of the king in the fleet.
In 1673 the Test Act deprived the Duke of York of his office, which for
the next eleven years was placed in commission. Charles II, just before
his death, revoked the commission, and the office fell in to the crown.
When the Duke of York succeeded to the throne in 1685 as James II, he
retained the office in his own hands, and in token of this placed "a
crown over the anchor as being himself his own Admiral[247]."
In addition to the anchor flag (which when used by the sovereign
is flown at the fore, as the main is already occupied by the royal
standard) a flag of similar design, but with the St George's cross in
the upper canton, was also flown as an ensign at the stern[248]
At this period, according to Lieut. Graydon's flag-book, the Scots
Lord Admiral flew a white flag containing a blue anchor and cable.
The Admiral of Scotland, who according to Pepys[249] was "no officer
of State" and had "no precedence at all given him from his office,"
was abolished after the Union of 1707, when the three small ships
representing the navy of that country were absorbed in the English,
henceforth the British, fleet.
After the Revolution of 1688 the Office of Lord High Admiral was placed
in commission, but it was revived by William III in June, 1702, when
the Earl of Pembroke was appointed. Pembroke had intended to proceed
to sea in command of the fleet then being fitted out in anticipation
of the outbreak of the war with France and Spain, known as the War of
the Spanish Succession, and he would have flown the royal standard in
his flagship. William, however, died on 8th March, and Queen Anne,
immediately after her accession, deprived the Lord High Admiral of
the right to fly the standard, among other perquisites and _droits_.
Pembroke then gave instructions for the anchor flag to be supplied
instead. But as he was not a seaman his proposal to take command of
the fleet had naturally aroused much opposition, and in the end it
was dropped. In May he was replaced as Lord High Admiral by Prince
George of Denmark, the Queen's consort, and although Pembroke again
held the office for a short time after the Prince's death in 1708, no
opportunity arose for the anchor flag to be flown at sea in military
command during his or the Prince's tenure.
[Illustration: PLATE VIII Admirals' Flags]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account