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Belgian ensigns

België, Belgique, Belgien

Civil ensign
- "European" civil ensign
Naval ensign
State ensign
Jack

See also:

Civil ensign

by Vincent Morley

The Belgian civil ensign is like the national flag, but in proportions of 2:3.

Jan Zrzavy, 16 January 1998

"European" civil ensign

Belgian pleasure boats often hoist the "European" civil ensign, made of the European Union ensign with the Belgian civil ensign in canton, with a white fimbriation.

by Ivan Sache

There is a variation, the ring of stars being sometimes centered on the whole field, and sometimes centered on the main field (excluding the canton), with a different aesthetical result.

by Ivan Sache

(To be compared with a similar "European" Italian civil ensign)

Ivan Sache, 29 July 1999

Naval ensign

The Belgian naval ensign is white with a black-yellow-red saltire; there is a black crown and two crossed cannon barrels above the saltire and a black anchor below it.

Jan Zrzavy, 16 January 1998

Smith [smi80] says its saltire was based on the cross of Burgundy.

Zeljko Heimer, 7 September 1998

State ensign

The Belgian black-yellow-red flag charged with a black crown and a black bear with red tongue and nails was the naval ensign from 1936 until 1940 when the Belgian Navy was abolished. The Navy was re-established in 1949 and a year later a new naval ensign (see above) was adopted. Since then the ensign with the lion and crown has been used as the state ensign.

Mark Sensen, 17 January 1998

The navy was abolished in 1926, just nine years after being re-established. During this time the national flag was used, together with a war-pennant vertical black-yellow-red (1:1:2), the red stripe with a triangle cut out to half the length. During the second World War a Royal Navy Section Belge existed, which was part of the British Royal Navy.
(Der Flaggenkurier [dfk] , December 1996)

Mark Sensen, 7 September 1998

Jack

by Ole Andersen

The naval jack, adopted in 1950, is the same as the national flag, but is square, according to Pedersen [ped70].

Ole Andersen, 16 June 1998

The flag of the Directeur Général de la Marine during the 1936-1940 period was the current jack with a crowned anchor in the yellow stripe.

Marcus Wendel, 5 September 1999