LAW OF THE FLAG.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 276, 19 November 1914, Page 6

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 red-letter days niany a flag is hoisted which ought not to lie and comparatively few people are aware of the restrictions on this point. The whole matter was laid down by an Order-in-CouneiJ dated November sth, 1800. This,still remains in force. The most important point to he remembered is that the Royal Standard is the personal flag of the Sovereign. It is hoisted where the Sovereign is rseiding, 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 .in "Fnsign" of n ecfrr»«l

ponding colour, the White Ensign being incorporated with tlie "St. Goor(ge'si Cross." These divisions were abolished in'lß6-1, but the White Ensign was still retained for the fleet. It is exclusively the flag of the Royal 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 is the flag of the Merchant Service. Xo loyal citizen with a flagstaff on his house or in his back garden, will transgress any regulation if he runs up the Red Ensign when the spirit moves him to proclaim his loyalty.