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White Ensign Flown in OakhamPublished:Friday 21 October 2005
 Rutland County Council celebrated Trafalgar Day 2005 by flying the ‘White Ensign’ on the flagpole outside the Catmose offices in Oakham.
The White Ensign is usually for the exclusive use of the Royal Navy and only flies in RN ships and over RN shore establishments.
However, approval was given for public and government buildings to fly the 'White Ensign', the flag of the Royal Navy, as part of the Trafalgar 200 programme on the weekend of 21-23 October 2005.
Chief Executive of Rutland County Council, Keith Franklin, says, “ We were delighted to obtain a White Ensign to use during the Trafalgar Day celebrations. This is the first occasion that the White Ensign has been flown above Catmose and I hope that it brought a great deal of pleasure and pride to many people”
Mr. Franklin went on to say, “We were rather caught by surprise when the official announcement came that we were being given special permission to fly the White Ensign. We had already started making plans to celebrate the weekend ourselves and had obtained a White Ensign, which was going to mysteriously appear for a day, without special permission, on the Catmose flagpole. The official announcement rather spoilt our fun!”
The Battle of Trafalgar was fought on the 21st of October 1805 off Cape Trafalgar on the Spanish coast, between the combined fleets of Spain and France and the British Royal Navy. It was the last great sea action of the period and its significance to the outcome of the war in Europe is still debated by historians.
Background Information (from www.royal-navy.mod.uk)
In 1627 the English Fleet (as it was then) was divided into three squadrons, the Red, Blue and White, in that order or seniority, and each had an English ensign in the appropriate colour with St George's Cross in the top corner.
By 1653 the order of seniority had been changed to Red, White and Blue and in 1702 a large red cross was placed on the White Ensign to differentiate it from the French ensign, which at the time was plain white.
In 1707, following the political union of England and Scotland, the three ensigns came to bear the Union Flag in the top corner as they do this day.
In 1801 the additional red diagonal of St Patrick's Cross was added to the Union Flag and the three ensigns then took their modern form.
Nelson was the Vice Admiral of the White Squadron, so Trafalgar was fought under the White Ensign in 1805 rather than the Red or Blue one.
In 1864 the squadron system was abandoned and the entire Royal Navy adopted the White Ensign, meanwhile the Merchant Navy was allocated the Red Ensign, and the Blue Ensign was reserved for non-military government ships.
The White Ensign remains the premier British maritime flag and is worn by all Her Majesty's ships.
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Rutland County Council
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start: Friday 21 October 2005 |
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