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Flag and Etiquette
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Do It Right! |
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Flag Size
There is no one-size-fits-all policy for nautical flags. Flag size on boats is determined by the size of the boat - either overall vessel length, or the height above the waterline of the tallest mast. This practice is based on longstanding nautical tradition.
A national ensign flown at the flagstaff should be one inch on the fly for each foot of overall length of the vessel. So a 30 foot vessel should fly a national ensign that has at least a 30 inch fly.
All other flags on power boats should be 5/8 inch on the fly for each foot of overall length. On sailboats, however, they should be 1/2 inch on the fly for each foot above the waterline of the tallest mast on the boat. (That is, if the top of the mast is 30 feet above the waterline, these other flags should be 15 inches on the fly.)
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Typical Burgee
Sizes* |
Power
Boat Length |
Sail Boat
Mast Height |
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6" x 9"
10" x 15" 12" x 18" 14" x 21" 16" x 24" 18" x 27" 20" x 30" |
<9'
10' - 24' 25' - 28' 29' - 33' 34' - 38' 39' - 43' 44' - 48' |
< 18'
19' - 30' 31' - 36' 37' - 42' 43' - 48' 49' - 54' 55' - 60' |
When purchasing a flag, the size of the flag is usually rounded up to the next larger commercially available size because more often than not the flags worn by a boat are too small.
While a large number of boaters operate a boat that requires a 12 x 18 inch burgee, that burgee would be way too small for a 50' boat. Since proper flag display is one measure of a good seaman, boaters should obtain and fly properly sized flags on their boat.
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