Ensign

“ Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original luster, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured ”

“ From her peak flutters a white ensign, barred with red, the proud emblem of the Royal Navy.
On the first ship there is a muffled roll of drums, a brief hurrying of men about the decks, a period of well-ordered activity—then quiet. “Silent is the path of duty for every well-drilled man.” Up to her mastheads creep balls of bunting. These at a quiet word of command break out into strips of red and white, stars of white against a blue field—battle ensigns of the United States. Constitution and Guerriere have met. ”

“ If anything could enhance to me the value of this representation of our national ensign, so elegantly executed and so gracefully bestowed, it would be the consideration that its price has been devoted to the comfort and restoration of those heroic men who have suffered and bled in our flag’s defense. We never should, and I am sure, never shall be niggard of gratitude and benefaction to the soldiers who have endured toil, privations and wounds, that the nation may live. ”

“ The term flag is a generic one, and covers all the specific kinds. It is suggested that the word is derived from the Anglo-Saxon verb fleogan, to fly or float in the wind, or from the old German flackern, to flutter. Ensign is an alternative word formed on the idea of the display of insignia, badges, or devices, and was formerly much used where we should now employ the word colours. The company officers in a regiment who were until late years termed ensigns were at a still earlier period more correctly termed ensign-bearers. ”

“ Roma White.
↑ As the ensign is hoisted in the morning, the band plays the National Anthem and all officers and men on deck face the ensign and salute. As the ensign is hauled down at sunset, the bugles sound the "Sunset call" and all officers and men on deck face the ensign and salute. The white ensign is laid over the coffins of naval men during funerals. ”

“ According to the definitions given by our lexicographers an ensign is a kind of a standard to which people rally and around which they gather. The Lord is going then, to lift up an ensign on the mountains, and it is to be so wonderful in its nature, something of so much importance that not part of the people are required to understand it; but in the language of Isaiah, "all ye inhabitants of the world," all nations, languages and kindreds are required to see, when the Lord lifts up an ensign on the mountains: "When he bloweth a trumpet hear ye." ”

“ Ensign, or ensign-bearer, is an officer who carries the colors being the lowest commissioned officer in a company of foot, subordinate to the captain and lieutenant. The word ensign is very ancient, being used both by the Greeks and Romans, and amongst both foot and horse. ”

“ It looks like Mary’s stove hook when she sticks it in the lid.”
“That,” was the rather short answer, “is my abdomen, and it isn’t growing from the tip of my body, but from the top of my thorax. It seems to me you have never seen an ensign fly before.”
“No, I never did. Please, what does ensign mean?”
“The dictionary will tell you that. All I know is some man got an idea that we carried our abdomens aloft like a flag or ensign, and so named us ensign fly. We are not flies, to begin with, but we have to keep any idiotic name they choose to tack on us. ”

“ This song was followed by the “Battle Cry of 311 Freedom,” and then the soldier, saluting the Goddess again in a short speech, said he desired to present to her an emblem, the outgrowth of the labors of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty. The ensign that stands for everything that is just, true, and progressive, the symbol of the sovereignty of Civilization, the banner that had been unfurled in more movements for the protection, the liberty, and the elevation of mankind, than any ensign that ripples to the four winds of Heaven. ”

“ That ensign we knew must be reared, that great work must be accomplished, and all people—not only those on the American continent but all dwelling in the four quarters of the globe, however obscure, and however distant they might be from the place where the ensign was to be reared, would be required by the power of the Lord, and by the marvellous work that He should perform, to open their eyes and contemplate that ensign, understand its nature and comprehend, in some measure, its purpose. ”

“ We therefore proceed to consider the other and what may be called the distinctive devices—we mean the stripes on this Continental Union Flag.
Under the head of Ensign (Brande's Dictionary) , we are told: "Men of war carry a red, white, or blue ensign, according to the color of the flag of the admiral." By the 1st Article of the union between England and Scotland, we have seen that the ensigns, both "at sea and land," were to embody the union of the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew conjoined; hence the colors, red, white, &c., only apply to the field of the ensign. ”

“ I went aft to the flag locker, drew out the big ensign, bent it on to the halyards, and ran it up to the gaff-end, where there was just wind enough to blow it out and make it distinguishable for what it was. ”

“ A small swallow-tailed flag.
Ensign (corruptly written "ancient" during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries) . This word was borrowed from the land service in the sixteenth century to denote the striped flag then introduced on the poop of ships. In explaining the meaning of this word in the Army, Barret [8] remarks: "We Englishmen do call them (Ensigns) of late Colours, by reason of the variety of colours they be made of, whereby they be the better noted and known to the companie." ”

“ The preparations to show the ensign, which caught the quick and understanding glance of Ghita, and which had not escaped even the duller vision of the artillerists, were made at the outer end of this jigger-yard, A boy appeared on the taffrail, and he was evidently clearing the ensign-halyards for that purpose. ”

“ Observe the Red-and-blue Ensign. The White Ensign with St. George's Cross did not become universal in the Royal Navy till 1864.
I have a vivid recollection of a visit to the Minotaur when a boy. Possibly a few extracts from notes made at the time may be of interest. "She has five masts and is a tremendous length. Her upper deck is furnished with a good many small guns for repelling boat attacks. ”

“ Figs. 47 and 50 explain themselves; it is evident that in one case the decorator started with a white ensign and in the other with a blue one, and then, feeling that they were a little small and insignificant looking, tacked on a goodly amount of red material to bring them up to their notion of what would be sufficiently conspicuous in size. ”

“ This ensign, which is called their "old colors," must have been the ensign spoken of and described in Queen Anne's proclamation. (See Fig. 7, Plate I.) Since we have seen one ensign prescribed 1707, for the merchant ships and vessels of Great Britain, and the dominions thereunto belonging, and that no change was made until 1801. This being the case, the ensign of the colonial cruisers, inasmuch as they were armed merchant vessels, must have been the British ensign displayed at the maintopping lift. ”

“ You smile at the quaintness of the conceit, and the ridicule he falls into, in explaining it. But that is not the question at present. The latter, he says, 253* bears the radiant ensign of the day: The other, the ensign of naval dominion. We understand how properly the English Flag is here denominated. But what is that other Ensign? The Sun itself, it will be said. But who, in our days, ever expressed the Sun by such a periphrasis? The image is apparently antique, and easily explained by those who know that anciently the Sun was commonly emblematized by a starry or radiate figure ”

“ —The best hearts, Trim, are ever the bravest, replied my uncle Toby.—And the greatest cowards, an' please your honour, in our regiment, were the greatest rascals in it.—There was serjeant Kumber, and ensign—
—We'll talk of them, said my father, another time. ”

“ Nay, the highest ensign that men ever met and embraced under, the Cross itself, had no meaning save an accidental extrinsic one. ”

“ Admiral—four silver stars. Vice Admiral—three silver stars. Rank of Rear Admiral—two silver stars. Rank of Commodore—one silver star. Rank of Captain—a silver spread eagle. Rank of Commander—a silver oak leaf. Rank of Lieutenant Commander—a gold oak leaf. Rank of Lieutenant—two silver bars. Rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade—one silver bar. Rank of Ensign—no insignia. Midshipman—a gold anchor.
The insignia indicating the rank and corps of officers are worn on each side of the collar of the blue service coat as illustrated ”

“ If any distinctive national colours except such red ensign, or except the Union Jack with a white border, or if any colours usually worn by Her Majesty's ships, &c. ... are or is hoisted on board any ship ... without warrant ... for each offence ... a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds. ”

“ ENSIGNS, FLAGS AND PENNANTS.
[Pg 61] For the general officers and post commanders of the United States Marine Corps flags and pennants of similar design, but with the addition of the Marine Corps insignia in white added, are provided.
A Guidon is a small flag or pennant carried by each troop of cavalry, company of mounted engineers, battery of field artillery, mounted company of the signal corps, field hospital, ambulance company and motor truck company, to designate the unit which carries it. ”

“ And now for the flag!
"Tell us, Professor, why the attaching of the flag on the cord, or halliards, is called bending it?"
"The term comes from heraldry, and it originally designated two diagonal lines across the field of an escutcheon. Later on, sailors bent the ends of the flags or ensigns on the halliards, or around the yards, and also called the fastening of a cable to the anchor a bend; a knot is also designated by them as a bend; the form of the ship from the keel to the top of the side is called a bend, as, the midship bend." ”

“ The Major deigned to declare.
"My Sergeant's plan, Sir"—
"And that's not bad—
But you've lost that ribbon
you wear?"
"It—must have been eaten away
by the Gas!"
"Well—ribbons are ribbons—
but don't be an ass!
It's better to do than dare." ”

“ Admiral. Colours and Ensignes I take to be all one, but wher are they to be placed and wherefore serve they?
Captain. They are placed in the Sternes or Poops of Ships; and very few Ships there are, whether Men of Warre or Merchantmen, that are without them. And their especial Service is, that when any strange Shypps meet one with another at Sea, or fynde one another in any Harbour or Rode, by the shewinge abroade thes Ensigns or Colours, it is knowne one to another of what country they are and to what place they belong. ”

“ There are, however, many instances of armorial ensigns depicted, and presumably correctly, in the form of banners supported by a single animal, but it will always be found that the single animal is but one of the pair of duly allocated supporters. ”

“ The armorial ensigns which, in the times of chivalry, adorned the crest and shield of the soldier, are now become an empty decoration, which every man, who has money to build a carriage, may paint according to his fancy on the panels. ”

“ MILITARY INSIGNIA, devices in the form of badges, epaulets, straps, chevrons, buttons, braid, mottoes, and the like, worn to differentiate the ranks and divisions of the military and naval forces. Insignia for these purposes are to-day in use in the forces of all nations, though differing according to the country to which the army and navy belong. In all countries the insignia are identical for officers or non-commissioned men of the same rank, though they differ according to the branch of the service. ”

“ With holy ensigns, how sublime they move, 110
And bending oft their sanctimonious eyes
Take homage of the simple-minded throng;
Ambassadors of Heaven! ”

“ In the army of the United States the rank of officers is determined by the insignia on the epaulettes and shoulder-straps, and is as follows:
“For the general commanding the army, two gold-embroidered stars of five rays, one on each side equidistant between the centre and the outer edge of the strap, and a gold-embroidered shield in the centre. For the lieutenant-general, three silver-embroidered stars of five rays, one star on the centre of the strap, and one on each side equidistant between the centre and outer edge of the strap; the centre star to be the largest. ”

“ Sister Warder, your badge is the Dove within the Star, an emblem of peace, admonishing you that peace and harmony are necessary to the success of our Order.
Brother Sentinel, your badge is the Cross-swords within the Star, an emblem of protection, admonishing you that upon your watchful care depends our security from interruption.
Sister Marshal, you will conduct our sister and brother to their stations within and without the door.
I. O. Sisters and Brothers, such is the nature of all associations, that some must rule and govern, others submit and obey. ”

“ A Grand Cross of the Bath wears a robe of red silk with the badge of the Order embroidered on the left side, and the collar of the Order. He also alone wears the broad riband across his chest with 204the badge at the tie, and a special Star. A Knight Commander wears a smaller star on the left side of his coat, and the insignia of the Order round his neck. A Companion wears only the insignia, of a smaller size, round his neck. ”