What does a skunk flag mean?

The Skunk flag signifies "no fish", "getting skunked" or not hooking a fish.

What do the different flags mean on a ship?

Two-flag Signals - Distress or Maneuvering. Three-Flag Signals - Points of the Compass, Standard-Times, Verbs, Punctuation, Code and Decode Signals. Four-Flag Signals - Geographic, Names of Ships, and Bearings. Five-Flag Signals - To Relate Position and Time.

What does a black flag on a boat mean?

Ships carrying passengers infested with the plague flew a yellow and black checked flag to warn other vessels against approaching. The plague flag flown over infested ships in port. Despite popular belief, the black flag was actually a more welcoming site than the red flag to other vessels.

What is the flag on the back of a boat called?

An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port.

What do the flags mean on fishing boats?

Flying an upside down species flag means a particular kind of fish has been caught and released. A "T" flag flown underneath an upside down species flag means a fish was tagged before release; multiple T flags mean multiple fish were tagged. Flags flying right side up means that the fish was caught and kept.

All the Sexualities (Almost)

What does an orange flag on a boat mean?

State law requires that boats towing person(s) on water skis or similar devices carry and use an orange or red skier-down flag, at least 12 × 12 inches in size, whenever the towed person(s) or associated equipment is down in the water.

What flag does a ship fly when leaving port?

Blue Peter. Commonly flown by merchant ships to denote that the ship is about to sail and that all crew who may be out of the ship to return back to the ship immediately.

Can I fly a pirate flag?

Can I fly a pirate flag? The international agreement UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) speaks for itself. Stateless ships, ships flying a foreign flag and ships refusing to fly their ensign may be detained and inspected by warships or civil service ships, even on the high seas.

Can I fly the American flag on my boat?

No flag should ever fly above the American flag. The American flag, or ensign, on any U.S. boat should be flown at the stern. But if the boat is equipped with a mast and gaff, the flag should be flown from the peak of the gaff. Fly all flags -- weather permitting -- from departure to return.

Can you fly a flag on your boat?

Ensign flags used to be restricted to documented vessels only. Now it is common courtesy to fly the national flag on all types of recreational boats.

Is there a quarantine flag?

A visible warning to stay clear. There is no signal in the International Code of Signals for 'quarantine' (indeed the word 'quarantine' does not appear in the code).

What color is the quarantine flag?

noun Nautical. a yellow flag, designating the letter Q in the International Code of Signals: flown by itself to signify that a ship has no disease on board and requests a pratique, or flown with another flag to signify that there is disease on board ship.

What is a yellow quarantine flag?

Medical Definition of quarantine flag

: a yellow flag hoisted by all ships to request pratique on entering a harbor, by a ship to show that it has contagious or infectious disease aboard, or by a ship that has been quarantined. — called also yellow flag, yellow jack.

What does a red and white flag on a boat mean?

The red flag with white diagonal stripe, while not international, is commonly used to indicate a diver in the water. Many states now require this flag. It is usually exhibited on a float to mark the diver's approximate location whereas the "A" flag should be used on the vessel.

What does a blue and white flag on a boat mean?

A blue-and-white International Code Flag A (or Alpha flag) must be displayed on boats involved in a diving activity.

What is a Charlie flag?

The code flag C "Charlie" means 'YES (confirmation). ' International Marine Signal Flags are international signals used by ships at sea. They can be used to spellout short messages, or more commonly, used individually.

What is a yacht club flag called?

Yacht and sailing clubs have flags to distinguish them, called a burgee. Most yacht club burgees are pennant (three sided) shaped like the HYC burgee, but a few clubs use swallow-tailed flags, while a very few use rectangular flags.

Can you fly the Union Jack on a boat?

Land flags. The Union Jack, Welsh Dragon, the Crosses of St Andrew, St George and St Patrick and the EU flag are primarily land flags and must not be flown at sea as an Ensign by cruising yachtsmen.

Do ships fly flags at night?

United States Ensign

The U.S. national ensign, sometimes called "50-star" or "Old Glory," is the proper and preferred flag for all U.S. vessels. Your boat should wear it from 0800 until sunset, and when you enter or leave port during daylight or at night, weather and rig permitting.

Why is the Jolly Roger offensive?

It is sometimes claimed that the term derives from "Joli Rouge" ("Pretty Red") in reference to a red flag used by French privateers. This is sometimes attributed to red blood, symbolizing violent pirates, ready to kill.

Why do they call it a Jolly Roger?

The title Jolly Roger is thought to come from the French phrase "joli rouge" which means "pretty red". The original pirate flags were blood red rather than black and white and this signalled that no mercy would be given once the pirates boarded and battle ensued.

What does an upside down pirate flag mean?

My captain at this time explained it as follows: If a crew abandons a ship in distress to save their life, the last thing to do (if they have time to do so) is to turn the flag upside down. This means that they give up any right on the vessel or cargo and anybody who manages to rescue the ship afterwards could keep it.

Can a ship sail without a flag?

Ships without nationality, also called stateless, flagless, or unregistered vessels, undermine the law-of-the-flag regime. Because stateless vessels do not have a flag state, no state can exercise control over them on the high seas or provide diplomatic protection on their behalf.

Can I fly a White Ensign on my boat?

The White Ensign may also be worn by the boats of commissioned ships. Yachts of the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Trinity House vessels when escorting the British Monarch (King or Queen of the United Kingdom) are also permitted to wear the White Ensign.

Is it illegal to fly a pirate flag UK?

The Royal Mail had previously banned its 125,000 posties from displaying England flags - but it is not against the law to fly them in the UK.