One Rere-admirall to the ffleet to be a Vice-admirall of a grand Squadron, to weare the usuall fflagg in his mizon topp & a blew fflagg in his foretopp wth a pendant under it & an ensigne of Blew. One Vice admirall to the Grand Squadron to weare a white flagg in his foretopp & a Pendent & Ensigne of white. Three other Rere-admirals: one of them to weare a Redd flagg, another a blew flagg & ye other a White in their mizon topps, wth Pendents & Ensignes of their respective Colo^{rs}. The rest of the fleet to be devided into 9 parts & to be put under the 9 flags before mentioned & to weare the colo^{rs} of the flagg they are put under, viz^t. A pendent & Ensigne of the same colo^{rs} the flagg is off under w^{ch} they are put. All the shipps to weare Jacks as formerly. If any of the Generals shall goe out of their shipps then that shipp to take downe ye Standard & to putt upp a flagg of the colo^{rs} of thet pendant yt shipp weares[271]. [Illustration: PLATE IX Early Ensigns, etc.] The arrangements here proposed merit attention, for they contain several departures from the custom hitherto prevailing. The three principal admirals, being of co-equal authority, are each to fly the same standard at the main masthead, but to distinguish them they are to have pendants and ensigns of three different colours. The Vice- and Rear-Admiral of the fleet are retained, but they no longer have separate squadrons, the senior becomes Vice-Admiral to the first, or red squadron, and the junior, Vice-Admiral of the second, or blue squadron. To these are added a squadronal or "occasional" Vice-Admiral for the third or white squadron, and three Rear-Admirals, one for each squadron. The private ships are to have an ensign, as well as the customary pendant, of the squadronal colour. The Navy Commissioners, after remarking upon rates of pay suitable to the various grades of flag officers, confess their incompetence to advise about the flags. "As to the distinguishment of weareing the fflaggs, Pendants and Ensignes, wee are not capable to give our advice therein, but must leave it to those Comand^{rs} at Sea (whoe best knowe the causes of such kind of distinctions) to advise." This was on the 14th January, 1653, but in the order to hasten the supply of flags to the fleet dated 4th February these flags are named in the order red, white, and blue. The reason for the change is not known, but it may be remarked that the white escutcheon of England had precedence of the blue escutcheon of Ireland in the Generals' standard, and this may have led the Generals at Sea to change the order of precedence of the squadronal colours.