Flag staff location??????

woodster

woodster

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Sep 15, 2009
6,243
S2 9.2a Fairhope Al
OK i have googled this and still have no idea where to locate it ...i have found out that the flag should be 1" for every 1 foot of boat .....i have also found that the staff should be 1 and 1/2 long in relation to the flag width....it also should be flown between the hrs from 8 am to 5 pm ...also that the 13 stars is no longer flow in the spirit it was intended but some still use it .....but i can't seem to find out if it is to the starboard side or the port side of the stearn.....so does anyone know ....port or starboard on the stearn........there is some old salt out there some where that will know ...would he plz come forward and share this information.....

regards

woody
 
Tim R.

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
Mine was on the port backstay. I will be moving to pushpit just port of center.
 
C

Calif. Ted

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Jun 8, 2004
2,960
Catalina 320 Dana Point
Mine's starboard, opposite side as the engine exhaust, which I have a faint recollection is preferred, 'course maybe that applied to tugboats or something.
 

Attachments

Les

Les

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May 8, 2004
375
Hunter 27 Bellingham, WA
I am perhaps an old salt having been sailing since the mid fifties, however, I am also a retired academic who did extensive research on "Flag Flying" for a Power Squadron class I was teaching a few years back.

You can fly whatever flag(s) you like anywheres you want as there are no U.S. Laws prescribing how to fly your signals. There are military"regulations" but they do not apply to us civilian types. And Chapman's pages on flag flying are guidelines not rules that Chapman borrowed from the military back in the early 1900s in a series of articles for Motor Boating magazine.

There are international understandings such as flying the "Q" (quarantine) burgee at the starboard spreader among nations however I suspect that is going by the way as we use VHF and Smart Phones for communications now instead of flags.

A bit sad as there was an art to flying flags that modern boats do not enjoy.

uniform whiskey
 
Gunni

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
The recreational flag protocols came out about 15 years ago. Stern center, starboard if your center is a problem. If you are a traditionalist 2/3 up the backstay.
 
Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
I fly my ensign on the starboard stern, basically over my right shoulder if it was high enough. On my starboard spreader is my YC Burgee and under that the 18x12 Marine Corps battle flag. My port spreader has my radar reflector and if I am visiting another yacht club and have their burgee, I will fly it there. I will also fly the 3x5 Marine Corps battle flag from the port spreader on holidays.
 
seanshine

seanshine

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May 10, 2004
182
Catalina 30 Puget Sound
6 foot "Old Glory" 2/3rds up the backstay. Fly it high,large, and fly it with pride. SS
 
Charlie Jones s/v Tehani

Charlie Jones s/v Tehani

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Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
Les said:
There are international understandings such as flying the "Q" (quarantine) burgee at the starboard spreader among nations however I suspect that is going by the way as we use VHF and Smart Phones for communications now instead of flags.

uniform whiskey
Click to expand
Entering into both Mexico and the Bahamas, they liked seeing the Q flag. As soon as we were done with Immigration, and Customs, it came down and that countries national flag went up- at the starboard spreader.
 
Tom

Tom

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Sep 25, 2008
73
Lancer 28 T Great Lakes
Mines on the backstay, 2/3 of the way up

tom
s/v GAIA
 
Joe

Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
8,225
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
capta

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,952
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
Les said:
I am perhaps an old salt having been sailing since the mid fifties, however, I am also a retired academic who did extensive research on "Flag Flying" for a Power Squadron class I was teaching a few years back.

You can fly whatever flag(s) you like anywheres you want as there are no U.S. Laws prescribing how to fly your signals. There are military"regulations" but they do not apply to us civilian types. And Chapman's pages on flag flying are guidelines not rules that Chapman borrowed from the military back in the early 1900s in a series of articles for Motor Boating magazine.

There are international understandings such as flying the "Q" (quarantine) burgee at the starboard spreader among nations however I suspect that is going by the way as we use VHF and Smart Phones for communications now instead of flags.

A bit sad as there was an art to flying flags that modern boats do not enjoy.

uniform whiskey
Click to expand
I would suggest you continue to fly your Q flag from the starboard spreader and after clearing into a country, fly their national flag there, and forget all about your smart phone or VHF, in most countries you might visit under sail.
 
Kings Gambit

Kings Gambit

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Jul 27, 2011
5,134
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
If the flag is on a staff, then by protocol it mounts on the starboard stern of non-gaff rigged sail boats. Otherwise at the peak of the gaff supporting the mainsail. But, so few people seem to know or respect protocol these days, that I doubt even few would notice or care much if you wore it streaming as a neck scarf. I saw a sailboat the other day with a two yacht club burgees flying together; one from the starboard, and the other from the port, spreader halyards. At times I've seen them flow one over the other frpm the starboard spreader halyards. People fly the ensigns from either the port or starboard spreader halyards. You name it!!

Thanks for asking.
 
Kings Gambit

Kings Gambit

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Jul 27, 2011
5,134
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
If the flag is on a staff, then by protocol it mounts on the starboard stern of non-gaff rigged sail boats. Otherwise it files from the peak of the gaff supporting the mainsail, or near the same relative position on a Marconi mainsail--about 2/3 the distance up the back stay. But, so few people seem to know or respect protocol these days, that I doubt even few would notice or care much if you wore it streaming as a neck scarf. I saw a sail boat the other day with two yacht club burgees flying together; one from the starboard, and the other from the port, spreader halyard. At times I've seen them flow one over the other from the starboard spreader halyard. People fly the ensigns from either the port or starboard spreader halyard. You name it!!

Thanks for asking.
 
Scotty C-M

Scotty C-M

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Apr 11, 2012
324
Cataina 400 MK II Santa Cruz
My understanding is that the tradition comes from the ensign flying over the helm station. Tiller and single wheel craft: center on backstay (half way up) or stern, center. Gaff rig: at peak of gaff or halfway up the sail, on the leach. Since I have two wheels, and use the starboard as my main helm station, I have it on the starboard side. Any of those locations show a sense of tradition. When flown from other locations I always figure that the person is showing love for the flag of this great nation and I appreciate their show of patriotism.
 
Kermit

Kermit

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Jul 31, 2010
5,689
AquaCat 12.5 17342 Wateree Lake, SC
Scotty C-M said:
When flown from other locations I always figure that the person is showing love for the flag of this great nation and I appreciate their show of patriotism.
Click to expand
That is exactly what is happening. Thanks for that. I'm VERY patriotic but was ignorant of maritime tradition when setting up our flags. But daggummit we like the way our flags look on the starboard spreader. We fly them with utmost respect.
 

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P

Pat

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Jun 7, 2004
1,250
Oday 272LE Ninnescah Yacht Club, Wichita, Ks.
We fly the American flag from the stern to the starboard of center (is on a teak staff). The starboard spreader is home for my Past Commodore's flag and the Kansas flag. Pat
 
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