Blue ensign

The Blue Ensign is a flag used by certain organisations or territories associated with the United Kingdom. It is used either plain, or defaced with a badge or other emblem.

Plain blue ensign

The plain blue ensign is permitted to be flown, instead of the Red Ensign, by two categories of civilian vessel:

• British merchant vessels whose officers and crew include a certain number of retired Royal Navy personnel, or Royal Navy reservists. The number and rank of such crew members required has varied over the years, as have the additional conditions required, since the system was first introduced in 1864. Permission to fly the blue ensign was suspended during both World War I and World War II.
• Vessels belonging to members of certain long-established British Yacht Clubs, all but one of which have "Royal" in their titles.

Defaced blue ensign

Defaced with a badge or emblem, the blue ensign forms the flag of:

• United Kingdom Government Departments or Public Bodies
• Most UK Overseas Territories except Bermuda (which uses the Red Ensign) and Gibraltar
• Some members of the Commonwealth, which were in the past British colonies or possessions. All are Commonwealth realms except Fiji, which became a republic in 1987.

A law of 1864 allowed free use of the Blue Ensign in these two ways.

Flags of UK Overseas Territories using the Blue Ensign

These include:

• Flag of the British Indian Ocean Territory
• Flag of the British Virgin Islands
• Flag of the Cayman Islands
• Flag of the Falkland Islands
• Flag of Montserrat
• Flag of Pitcairn Islands
• Flag of Saint Helena
• Flag of Turks and Caicos Islands

National flags based on the Blue Ensign

These include:

• Flag of Australia
  • Flag of New South Wales
  • Flag of Queensland
  • Flag of South Australia
  • Flag of Tasmania
  • Flag of Victoria
  • Flag of Western Australia
• Flag of Fiji*
• Flag of New Zealand
  • Flag of Cook Islands
• Flag of Tuvalu*

* Pale blue field