An Cosantóir the official magazine of the Irish Defence Forces and Reserve Defence Forces.
Issue link: https://digital.jmpublishing.ie/i/251143
| 29 THE NAVAL ENSIGN The Ensign to be used by the Naval Service shall be the National Flag. Ensigns shall be manufactured from wool bunting or a mixture of wool and nylon bunting. It shall have the following dimensions. a. b. c. d. Large Ensign - 12 feet fly by 6 feet hoist Normal Ensign - 9 feet fly by 4.5 feet hoist Small Ensign - 6 feet fly by 3 feet hoist Boat Ensign - 4 feet fly by 2 feet hoist Ensign Half Masting Sizes to be worn 1. A Large Ensign shall, except as otherwise provided in sub-paragraph 3 of this section be worn at naval installations on Sundays and Defence Force holidays and on other occasions as may be directed. 2. A Normal Ensign shall be worn:a. By Naval Ships in commission, On Sundays and Defence Force holidays, except in winds of force 6 and upwards, and on such other occasions as may be directed. b. At naval installations except as otherwise provided in sub-paragraphs 1 and 3 of this section. 3. A Small Ensign shall be worn:a. At Naval installations in winds of force 6 and upwards. b. By Naval ships in commission except as otherwise provided in sub-paragraph 2(a) of this section. c. By Naval Auxiliary Ships and Department of Defence vessels. 4. A Boat Ensign shall be worn:a. By boats belonging to naval ships at all times, by day and by night, when on duty outside territorial waters, or when going alongside a foreign ship in territorial waters. b. By boats belonging to naval ships and be service launches inside territorial waters when flying Burgee or Pennant. 1. On occasions when it is necessary to halfmast the Ensign it shall, if not previously hoisted, be hoisted to the close up position then lowered to half-mast position. Similarly before lowering from the half-mast position it shall be hoisted to the close-up position and then lowered. 2. The half-mast position is approximately one-third of the way down from the close-up position, but never below the middle point of the staff. As a general guide, the half-mast position may be taken as where the top of the flag is the depth of the flag below the close-up position. 3. When the Ensign is at the half-mast position and it is appropriate for boats to wear an Ensign, the Ensign worn by the boats shall also be at the half-mast position. Answering the dip When any vessel salutes a state ship by dipping her Ensign the salute shall be returned dip for dip. www.military.ie the defence forces magazine