![[Civil Ensign 1927-1948 (British Mandate of Palestine)]](../images/m/mpe~civ27.gif)
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image by Željko Heimer
Flag adopted 1927, abolished 15th May 1948
Last modified: 2023-12-09 by martin karner
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image by Željko Heimer
Flag adopted 1927, abolished
15th May 1948
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In 1927 it was found that there was no legal procedure by
which a merchant ship owned by an inhabitant of Palestine could
be registered. Palestinians were not British subjects, and only
ships owned by a British subject could be placed on the British
Register. The Palestine Shipping Register was established, and an
Admiralty Warrant of 27th October 1927 authorised, "the
Red Ensign of HM Fleet defaced on the fly thereof by the word
PALESTINE in a white circular field, to be used on board vessels
belonging to the inhabitants of Palestine".
In 1944 the only flag that represented the area that roughly
corresponds to modern Israel was the
defaced Red Ensign. It was for use only at sea, and was
internationally recognised as the ensign of a ship registered in
Palestine. I think that Haifa was the
only port ever used for registry. Introduced in 1927, revoked in 1948, at which time there were six
vessels on the register. Three were in the Mediterranean, two
tramping in the West Indies and one on an extended voyage in
South America. It was used legally until 15th May
1948, and illegally after that.
David Prothero, 26 June 1997, 16 August 2000, 7 March 2001
and 4 March 2002
Palestinian Government Regulation No. 917 of 16 December 1927
which determined the use of the Palestinian Civil Ensign, was not
enforced until May 1935 when the SS Har-Karmel was registered.
Raphael Dror Grinker, 13 September 2008
When the British withdrew from Palestine on 15th May 1948 the Departmental Flags and the flag of the High Commissioner were cancelled, but
the Palestine Red Ensign posed some problems.
On 16th February 1948 the High Commissioner had written to the
Colonial Office that the warrant for the Palestine Red Ensign
could be revoked from the end of the Mandate or, if the Admiralty agreed, from the date on which a
successor state was set up, if that was requested by the United Nations Organisation. The Admiralty did not favour the latter
proposal since Palestinian ships, would be under a British Ensign, and thus able to claim
the protection of the Royal Navy, even
if they were being used in quasi-military operations, or carrying
arms or immigrants into Palestine.
On 29th April 1948, Circular 1829 informed Consuls that after
15th May 1948 ships registered at ports in Palestine should be
treated as foreign vessels. On 20th May 1948, the Jewish Agency
in London protested that Palestine
vessels at sea had been left without a flag, and asked that use
of the defaced Red Ensign should be permitted until they returned
to their Home Port. It was verbally agreed that this would be
allowed. However it was then found that although three of the
ships on the register were in the Mediterranean, and would soon
be transferred to the British Register, the other three were on
extended voyages and would not be returning to their home port
for some time. The Foreign Office suggested that the Jewish
Agency should arrange for these vessels to be placed on the
Jewish State Register.
On 24th May 1948, the Military Branch wrote that Clearance
Papers would declare that these ships did not fly the flag of any
state recognised by HM Government. On 27th May 1948, the Military
Branch reported that ships were still using the defaced Red
Ensign and that one shortly arriving Tel
Aviv might be liable to attack. It was agreed that such ships
were not entitled to the protection of the Royal
Navy.
On 4th September 1949, Foreign Office Circular 0126 asked HM
Representatives to draw to the attention of foreign governments,
that the Palestine Red Ensign had been revoked on 15th May 1948.
Source: Public Record Office ADM 1/21248.
David Prothero, 16 August 2000 and 4 March 2002
Since the Israeli flag was not adopted
at May, it was possible that until it was adopted some ships (and
those which were at sea) used it after 15 May. However, Jewish
owned ships usually hoisted the Zionist
(later Israeli) flag on their masts even before May. Illegal
immigrants' ships hoisted only the Zionist flags no matter where
those were registered. Four out of five Palestinian ports (Acre, Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jaffa) was on May or soon
after under Israeli control as also well register offices in
Haifa. The fifth port was under Egyptian
control (Gaza), so the main problem was probably with Arab owned
ships of former Palestinians residents.
Dov Gutterman, 16 August 2000
