TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
The cover image was created by the transcriberand is placed in the public domain.
Obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been correctedafter careful comparison with other occurrences within the textand consultation of external sources.
More detail can be found at the end of the book.
CAMBRIDGE NAVAL AND MILITARY SERIES
GENERAL EDITORS
SIR JULIAN S. CORBETT, LL.M., F.S.A.
H. J. EDWARDS, C.B., C.B.E., M.A.
BRITISH FLAGS
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
C. F. CLAY, Manager
LONDON: FETTER LANE, E.C. 4
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.
BOMBAY }
CALCUTTA } MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD.
MADRAS }
TORONTO: THE MACMILLAN CO. OF
CANADA, LTD.
TOKYO: MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
BRITISH FLAGS
THEIR EARLY HISTORY, AND THEIR DEVELOPMENTAT SEA; WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OFTHE FLAG AS A NATIONAL DEVICE
BY
W. G. PERRIN
ADMIRALTY LIBRARIAN
SECRETARY OF THE NAVY RECORDS SOCIETY
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY
ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR
BY
HERBERT S. VAUGHAN
CHEVALIER OF THE LEGION
OF HONOUR
CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1922
PREFACE
It might have been expected that the attempt to trace to theirorigin in the past the institutions and customs in common useupon the sea would from an early date occupy the attention of aseafaring people, but for some obscure reason the British nation hasalways been indifferent to the history of its activities upon that elementon which its greatness was founded, and to which it has become moreand more dependent for its daily bread and its very existence. Tothose who are alive to this fact it will hardly come as a surprise, therefore,to learn that the first sustained attempt at a detailed investigationinto the history of the flag at sea was made under the patronage ofthe German Admiralty by a German Admiral. Vice-Admiral Siegel'sDie Flagge, published in 1912, was the first book to deal with thedevelopment of the flag at sea in a scientific spirit, and although theearlier chapters contain so