Law of the Flag.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 18 September 1914, Page 8

Law of the Flag.

There are quite a number of people whom an excess of enthusiasm may lead into committing an offence against the law. On redletter days many a flag is hoisted which ought not to be, and comparatively few people are aware of the restrictions on this point. The whole matter was laid down by an Order in Council dated November sth, 1800. This still remains in force. The most important point to be remembered is that the Royal Standard is the personal flag of the Sovereign. It is hoisted where the Sovereign is residing, and nowhere else, with a few exceptions, such as certain fortresses on Royal anniversaries or State occasions, as laid down in the Royal Regulations. The Union Jack is the flag of the whole nation, and anyone, may fly it. For over two centuries the British Fleet consisted of three divisions—the red, the white, and the blue—and each division flew an "Ensign" of a corresponding colour, th< white ensign being incorporated with the ' "St. George's Cross." These divisions were abolished it 1864, but the White Ensign wai still retained for the fleet. It is exclusively the flag of the Roya! Navy and the Royal Yacht Squadron, and it is a punishable offence for anyone else to use it, however innocent their intention. The Blue Ensign, the-flag of the Merchant Service. No loyal citizen with a flagstaff on his house or in his back garden will transgress any regulation if he runs up the Red Ensign w"hen the spirit moves him to proclaim his loyalty.