this is not the case; when the screw is vertical the lower blade is moving in water which offers far greater resistance to its motion than that which meets the upper blade moving near the surface; consequently, the ship's stern is moved in a direction opposite to that in which the lower blade revolves; the result of this action is, that a screw ship will usually, in a calm, carry a small helm on the same side when moving ahead; and when moving astern, her head will invariably pay off the same way (unless counteracted by a breeze in the right direction), this tendency will be to starboard or port according to the mode of rotation of the screw.

CHAP. XXVI.

FLAGS.

THE ROYAL STANDARD.

ARMORIAL ensigns are hereditary marks of honour made up of determined figures and colours, and called Coats of Arms from their having been borne on shields or clothing for the distinction of persons, families, and states.

Banners and pennons, having the arms of their owners emblazoned thereon, were in early times carried as honorary marks of distinction by the chiefs who had furnished a number of fighting men for the service of the state. The sovereign not only bore the standard of England with the arms of the realm, but those of the patron saints, St. George and St. Edmund.

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The emblazonry on the royal standard of England represents the arms for the time being of the nation, as impressed on the coins, and borne on the great seals of office. According to heraldic language, they are described thus: -" Quarterly first and fourth, gules, three Lions passant gardant in pale for England. Second, or, a Lion rampant gules with a double tressure flory, comter flory of the last, for Scotland. Third, azure, a Harp, or, stringed argent, for Ireland."

Two of the lions passant, gardant pale, or, on a red field in the first and fourth quarter were the arms of Normandy, and were introduced by William Rufus. The third is said to have

been added by Henry II. for the duchy of Acquitaine, which he possessed in right of his wife Alianore, A.D. 1154. Certain it is that the banner of Edward I. was a scarlet flag, having "three lions courant of fine gold, sette on."

The second quartering is occupied by the royal banner of Scotland, which was of "cloth of gold, having emblazoned on it a lion rampant within a double border (a tressure), enriched with fleurs-de-lys, all of them red." This was introduced on the union with Scotland in 1707.

The silver stringed golden Harp on a blue field was a part of the regalia of the Irish King, Brian Boiromh, A.D. 1014, which was presented to Henry VIII., and is now in the College of Cambridge.

Edward III., on claiming the sovereignty of France in right of his mother Isabel, sister and heiress of Charles the Fair, quartered with the lions the fleur-de-lys powdered on a blue field. The standard thus composed of the arms of France and England is displayed in authentic paintings at the mast-heads of the Great Harry and the Henry Grace de Dieu, ships of war built in the times of the seventh and eighth Henrys.*

On the centre of this standard an escutcheon of pretence was placed by William III. for Nassau, which was removed by Queen Anne. The flag received some additions under George I., which on the accession of Her Majesty Queen Victoria were removed, and the standard, as above described, is now the royal standard of Great Britain, and is only displayed during the presence of a member of the Royal Family, or upon certain state occasions.

THE BLAZON OF THE PRINCE CONSORT'S STANDARD IS quarterly, first and fourth, the royal arms of the British empire, differenced by a label of three points, on the centre point a cross gules.† Second and third, barry of ten, or and sable, a bend treflé vert, for Saxony.

THE BLAZON OF THE PRINCE OF WALES' STANDARD IS

the royal arms differenced by a label of three points, and an

* Portrait in Greenwich Hospital, and at Windsor.

Omitted on Plate.

escutcheon of pretence for Saxony, viz. barry of ten or and sable, a bend treflé vert.*

UNION JACK.†

As the patron saint of England, the banner of St. George ever ranked highly. In heraldic language it was "argent, a cross gules," i. e. a white flag with a plain red cross. It appears to have been very early adopted as a national ensign. Coins and seals of the time of Edward III. and Henry V. are impressed with the figure of a ship bearing this flag at the bow and stern, and the portrait of the Great Harry exhibits it at the fore and mizen.

The national flag of Scotland or banner of St. Andrew was, azure, a saltire argent, i. e. a white saltire or St. Andrew's cross on a blue field. On the union with Scotland in 1707 these flags were combined; the red cross of St. George fimbriated, argent, that is with a white border to the cross, being laid upon the St. Andrew banner, and thus it appears in the portrait of the Sovereign of the Seas §, a war ship of that period.

On the union with Ireland in 1801, the banner of St. Patrick, which is a red saltire cross on a white field, was laid upon that of St. Andrew, and upon these the fimbriated cross of St. George, composing the flag now known to us as the Union Jack.

In 1707, the Union at the main became, and remains to this day, the distinguishing flag of the Admiral of the Fleet. It was thus carried by Lord Howe on the 1st of June, and by Earl St. Vincent in 1800 and 1806. Merchant vessels are prohibited from wearing this flag without a white border under penalty of 500l.

ADMIRALTY FLAG.

As countries, towns, merchants, and private adventurers furnished ships for the public service, they were permitted to

*The account usually given in regard to the three feathers called the Prince of Wales's feathers, is that they were won by Edward the Black Prince at Cressy, from the blind old king of Bohemia, on whose banner they were borne.

It is believed that the term Jack is derived from the abbreviated name of the reigning sovereign, under whose direction the flag was constructed, and whose signature ran, Jacques.

The Plantagenet colours, white and red.

§ Greenwich Hospital.

display armorial bearings either on their flags or sails, for the purpose of distinction. The plain red flag appears to have been one of the earliest symbols made use of in maritime history for the double purpose of denoting the presence of the chief and directing the conduct of his fleet; for we read that it was hoisted to the right or left side, as the admiral wished the vessels to engage in either direction.

This flag, according to the Harleian Miscellany, is thus emblazoned and appropriated. "The anchor argent, gorged in the arm with a coronet, and a cable through the ring, and fretted in a true lovers' knot with the ends pendent, or, is the badge of the Lord High Admiral of England, as he is Commander-in-Chief over all the King's navell forces." Thus it was carried by the Earl of Southampton in the reign of Henry VIII.; and thus it remains to this period the next in rank to the royal standard, and worn only by the naval Commander-in-Chief, or the Lords of the Admiralty, who are commissioned for the purpose of executing his office.*

FLAG OF THE CINQUE PORTS.

The Cinque Ports were first incorporated in the time of Edward the Confessor. They furnished a fleet which was commanded by the Lord Warden, as an Admiral who had all the authority, rights, and royalties belonging to an Admiral, and the ports were a distinct Admiralty in themselves.

In return for certain privileges they had, upon forty days' notice, to provide 57 ships, having 22 men each, viz. Hastings 6, Winchelsea 10, Rye 5, Romsey 5, Hythe 5, Dover 21, and Sandwich 5.

This flag may be displayed at any of these ports by the Lord Warden or by members of the Trinity Board.

FLAGS OF OFFICERS.

Fleets being distributed into three squadrons, viz. the Van, Centre, and Rear, the rank of the officer in command of each is

* The last time this flag was worn by an admiral afloat, was on the occasion of Sir George Rooke commanding the combined fleet of England and Holland in 1703.

distinguished by a square flag of a particular colour, worn at a particular mast head.

As regards colour, red is first in order, next white, then blue. As to place the main is superior, next the fore, then the mizen. A plain Red Flag is worn by admirals, vice-admirals, and rearadmirals of the red, at the main, fore, and mizen respectively as their proper Flag.

A White Flag with a red cross, is worn by admirals, viceadmirals, and rear-admirals of the white, at the main, fore, and mizen respectively as their proper Flag.

A plain Blue Flag is worn by admirals, vice-admirals, and rearadmirals of the blue, at the fore, main, and mizen respectively as their proper Flag.

When flag officers carry their flags in boats or one masted vessels, their rank is denoted by balls, the flag of a vice-admiral of the red or blue having one white ball on it, that of a viceadmiral of the white having one blue ball on it. The flag of a rear-admiral of the blue or red having two white balls, and that of a rear-admiral of the white having two blue balls on it.

When vice and rear-admirals have their flags painted on their boats, the same distinctive balls are inserted on them.

Commodores of the first class wear a red cornet, and those of the second a blue one. The rank of flag officers in some of the foreign navies is also denoted by the position and form of their flags, as well as by the number of balls borne on them.

The different divisions and squadrons in a fleet have each their own distinguishing flag, and communications are maintained by combinations of signal flags and sounds, produced by ringing bells, blowing horns, beating drums, and firing guns*, which being fully described in the signal books of the ship require no notice here.†

* The nearer a fog-gun is to the surface of the water, the further will it be heard. So that a lower deck gun is the most efficient.

The earliest authentic notice we have of the employment of a regular signal code, along with fighting instructions for the British fleet, is to be found in the account of Queen Elizabeth's expedition against Cadiz. These were engaged by James I., who, as Duke of York, was Lord High Admiral. The signal code of Lord Howe was remodelled in 1782.