![[Pilot Jack]](../images/g/gb~pjck.gif)
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by Martin Grieve 
Last modified: 2019-05-15 by rob raeside
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by Martin Grieve
![[Pilot Jack]](../images/g/gb~pj.gif)
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by Martin Grieve
Overall dimension 1:2
![[Pilot Jack]](../images/g/gb~jack.gif)
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by Clay Moss, 13 November 2014
![[Pilot Jack]](../images/g/gb~pilot.gif)
image by Miles Li, 15 September 2015
The following quote is from a "Mariners Mirror" article on British 19th
century pilotage. The context is a description of the pilot's routine when
boarding a ship to be piloted:
"Having reached the vessel's bridge, he had to raise a specific flag (measuring
1.80 by 1.20m, with two red and white stripes, either horizontal, for a first
class pilot, or vertical, for a second class pilot) to indicate his presence on
board the ship. This signal was meant to prevent any attempt to board by another
pilot's cutter. Any infringement to that rule was severely punished, the
infringing pilot having to refund the expenses of his colleague and being
suspended for two days."
Source: Maritime Pilotage Acts of the Nineteenth Century, by Tri Tran, Mariners
Mirror Vol. 89/1, February 2003, p. 44.
I believe that the USN currently uses the international flag "H" to mean "I have
a pilot onboard" (among other things -- I recall hoisting it to indicate that
the ship was conducting helicopter operations). Might there be a connection
between the "H" (which is red and white) and the flags described in the MM
article?
Peter Ansoff, 26 February 2003
I work in the UK Pilot boat industry. Our operations manager has
uncovered some part of the Merchant Shipping Regs/IMO Regs that have changed the
flag shown on a Pilot boat to that of the “H” red white side by side
configuration. Which we now fly on our pilot boats out of Ramsgate and
Sheerness. You state that it is “White over Red”, which was correct years ago,
it has now changed, he says.
Mick Heywood, 20 October 2011
In 1934 the International Code Signal H replaced the white over red flag.
David Prothero, 20 October 2011
There is a different jack for civil vessels. This is an elongated Union Flag
with a wide white border around it.
Graham Bartram, 1 June 1999
The Pilot Jack (the white-bordered Union Jack) ceased to be a pilot signal in
1970. It is only used as the civil jack (also named merchant jack, but
recreational boats may also use it). It is not very often used.
David Prothero, 31 July 2001, Jose C. Alegria, 2 August 2001
Can this flag be used on inland waterways like the River Thames? It is
debatable as to whether the Merchant Shipping Act actually applies to inland
waterways, however whether it does or not, the River Thames is a tidal river and
as such should not (in my opinion) be so classed. It follows therefore, that
Part 1.4(1)(a)(ii) of the Merchant Shipping Act (1995) comes into force and this
specifically permits the use of "the Union Flag (commonly called the Union Jack)
with a white border" as being one of the "distinctive colours" permitted to
merchant vessels. The use of these "distinctive national colours" is nowhere
forbidden in law in either inland or coastal waterways.
Christopher Southworth, 11 June 2004
The flag was introduced in 1823, and (whilst established in law from 1854
onwards) is no longer used for its original purpose and (from a date unknown but
probably 19th Century) also assumed the role of a civil jack.
Christopher
Southworth, 24 April 2011
See also:
Photograph of example of flag from National Maritime Museum in Greenwich (London):
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/2290.html
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 13 April 2019
In the latter part of the 18th century the Royal Navy adopted, as the signal
for a pilot, a Union Jack flown at the topmast head of a vessel with one mast,
or at the fore topmast head of a vessel with more than one mast. I don't know if
the selection of the Union Jack for this signal was deliberate or by chance.
British merchant ships, for whom pilotage was compulsory in Britain, followed
the example of the Navy and adopted the same signal. It is surprising that this
was allowed as, since 1634, it had been an offence for a merchant ship to fly
the Union Jack . The Admiralty eventually took action to rectify this after
Captain Frederick Marryat published the "Code of Signals for the Merchant
Service" in 1817, and included the Union Jack as one of the set of signal flags.
A warrant was issued on 15 November 1822 repeating that it was an offence for a
merchant ship to fly the Union Jack, but temporarily authorising its use as a
signal flag until 1 January 1824.
The Ship Owners of London opposed this and asked the Admiralty to end
restrictions on the use of the Union Jack. It was a necessary part of Marryat's
Code, which was about to be adopted by the French and Americans. The Admiralty
replied that the use of the Union Jack as the signal for a pilot had been
admitted, and the indulgence had led to its indiscriminate use. They were
prepared to allow its continued use as a pilot signal for British ships, but
felt it would be highly inconvenient if the Union Jack were to become part of a
general code, particularly if the code were to be introduced into the French and
American Navies. Their Lordships could see no reason why a different flag should
not be substituted for the Union Jack.
The Ship Owners asked Captain Marryat to resolve the problem. He thought that
the best plan was to take advantage of the fact that all British ships, whether
men- of-war or merchant vessels, carried the Red Ensign, which had the Union
Jack in one corner. He thought that if a Red Ensign was trimmed to leave just
the Union with a red edge at the bottom and fly, the alteration would not be
great enough to cause confusion, but would be sufficient to satisfy Their
Lordships. It did not. It was pointed out that the suggestion did not limit the
size of the margin, which might be so small as to be indistinguishable, and it
was suggested that a flag of yellow and blue, or any other distinct colours,
could replace the Union Jack. The Ship Owners proposed a Union Jack with a six
inch red border on all sides. They thought this would be cheaper than
introducing a new flag, as every ship already had a Union Jack. They also
suggested that in the proposed Regulations relating to Pilotage the same flag
should be specified as the signal for a pilot. Their Lordships agreed to this,
but the border was to be white instead of red, and the size of the border was to
be a proportion of the size of the flag.
The new flag was warranted on 8 July 1823, the details published in the London
Gazette on the 9th, to be effective 1 January 1824. The change was included in
the fourth edition of Marryat's Code published in 1826. The same white-bordered
Union Jack was adopted by the Royal Navy as 'the Pilot Signal in all parts of
the world' on 5 December 1826.
[Based on Memorandum on Merchant Ensigns and Jacks, 1674 to 1879.
Copies in PRO docs ADM 116/3566 and BT 103/308.
Article "The British Merchant Jack" by Cdr. Hilary P. Mead, R.N. in Mariner's
Mirror Volume 21, pages 395-410, October 1935.]
David Prothero, 6 September 2003
The white-over-red Pilot flag was first created by a British statute in 1808
(during the reign of George III). The 1808 Act provided that the pilot flag: (1)
was to be carried in boats carrying the pilot, and then (2) in the ship in which
the pilot was "carried off" to perform his services. In later years, these
provisions were incorporated into the Merchant Shipping Act, and later into the
successive Pilotage Acts. Since 1808, this white-over-red flag has thus been the
Pilot Distinguishing Flag for Britain, and due to accession, for many
Commonwealth nations as well. Many European nations copied the British practice,
too, because it was widely understood. The Pilot Distinguishing Flag has been
part of British law since 1808. No exceptions. (The flags used by ships to
summon pilots have changed, however.) And in a fair number of nations, the
simple white-over-red is the "Pilot Flag" also.
The International Code of Signals (to which Britain subscribes) provides that
code flag "H" means "I am carrying a pilot" --but this provision speaks to ships
under pilotage, not really to pilot boats offering their services and certainly
not to pilothouses where the pilots await their jobs. The International Code
Flag "H" --which is divided vertically white/red -- first appeared in Marryat's
Code of 1817, and was later incorporated into the successive International
Signal Codes. The use of this red-and-white "H" flag to convey a pilot-related
message clearly stems from the practice started in 1808. Also, under the
COLREGS, the lights displayed by a pilot boat at night are white over red;
"White over red; pilot ahead!"
Britain's 1808 law did not apply to the USA, of course, and the white-over-red
flag never caught on in the USA. In many US ports, the code flag "P" (Blue
Peter) was used to mark pilot boats in the 19th century. This provision is still
part of the law in Louisiana to this day (and was part of some states' laws for
many years). The pilot boats of Houston, Texas, still carry the "P" flag in
rigid form. The use of the "P" flag is at variance with the meaning assigned in
the International Code, yet it is very firmly entrenched in local custom. "P is
for pilot." Many Latin American nations followed the US custom, and used "P" (or
at least a blue-and-white flag of some sort). Some US and Latin American pilot
boats are painted blue. A few nations created unique pilot boat flags that
follow neither the UK nor US traditions. This said, a few US pilots are now
using the International "H" flag as a pilot boat flag (instead of "P"), under a
broader interpretation of, "I am carrying a pilot".
James T. Liston, 16 March 2003
I have found no reference to the Union Jack with a white border before its
introduction in 1823 as a signal for calling a pilot in the 'Code of Signals for
the Merchant Service' of Captain Frederick Marryat which went through 10
Editions before being replaced by 'The Commercial Code of Signals of the use of
All Nations' in 1857 (which was itself changed to 'The International Code' about
1880). If it had been introduced for any other purpose, I am sure we would have
heard about it. The Union Jack was certainly used by the Royal Navy for
signaling (as was the Ensign) prior to the introduction of an organized flag
code, but always without defacement of any sort. The merchant marine are known
to have flown a Union Jack - as a Jack - upon occasion, but this was strictly
illegal and had been so since 1634.
Christopher Southworth, 4 September 2003
See also:
As the pilot jack today can only be used in harbour or at anchor, when used at
anchor does it or can it act as a substitute for an anchor ball?
David Ward, 3 September 2003
The anchor ball is an option, not a requirement, and therefore the use of a jack
as a substitute does not arise. The 1951 Seamanship Manual made the point that a
warship did not normally hoist a black ball when at anchor, but the fact that
she was at anchor (or made fast to the shore or a buoy) might be indicated by
her jack flying from the jack staff.
David Prothero, 3 September 2003
![[Examination vessels]](../images/g/gb~exam.gif)
image by Miles Li, 15 September 2015
Source: Campbell and Evans (1965)
See also:
Canadian equivalent
