Nelson & His World

I have just been reading about Nelson's funeral and the 'enormous' battle ensign of 'Victory' which was displayed to the crowd during the funeral procession.

Do I infer correctly that a battle ensign was a specific flag of (large) regulation size which was hoisted for a battle, rather than simply the flag that was always there and just happened to be flying at the time of the battle and thereby earned the name battle ensign? And that this was the flag that was hauled down when you 'struck'?

A 'battle ensign' was not a specific flag, rather it would normally be the largest ensign held onboard. Timothy Wilson (in 'Flags at Sea') defines it simply as being the ensign used by warships in action. It was not unknown for ships to fly more than one ensign, in case one was shot away.

The size of naval flags are defined by 'breadths' - the width of the woven bunting - which seems to have varied at different times. 17th century flags are recorded as being huge - but the biggest standard issue was of 26 breadths ( 14 yards long). The 1822 regulations also specify that a 1st rate shall be equipped with ensigns of 26, 16 and 10 breadth sizes.

It is likely that the Victory's ensign would have been a 26 breadth one - measuring 14 yards by 7 yards.

The largest size ensign issued to the navy in the 20th century has been 20 breadths ( = 10 yards x 5 yards).


To 'strike' means to lower your national flag as a token of surrender, so in the case of the Royal Navy, it would be the ensign.

Thank you for that detailed reply. Clear, concrete and concise, as always.