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The art of the personal signalYears ago, every sailor had his or her own personal signal (pirate flags were personal signals), which they flew on whatever vessel they were sailing. Most personal signals as of some civilized date were listed in Lloyd's register so you could identify the master of each vessel. The personal signal was usually selected to represent something very meaningful to or about the individual flying it. Naturally, the personal signals of the pirates were not registered, although they were pretty well known and so widely recognizable that they did not have to be registered. Take Blackbeard, for example. When he hoisted his particular brand of jolly roger, boats scattered.
Most recently, we had a spinnaker made and decided to personalize it with the white sea horse as well. Others have done similarly with the advent of reasonably priced graphic. A rather new development is the use of "war flags" prior to the start of races, to identify competitors and strike terror in the fleet (kind of what the pirates used to do, no?). These war flags are giant personal signals flown from the forestay prior to the start of a race and are taken down before the sails are hoisted. Vexillology, the scientific study of flags, can be quite fascinating. The Jolly Roger is one of the more interesting evolutionary personal signal exporations. The other is royal families. Members of royal families are naturally entitled to display personal flags and standards which are normally flown to denote their presence. These flags and standards are flown day and night at any building in which they are in residence or in which they are attending a public function. Generally, personal flags and standards are flown behind the saluting base when troops are inspected and on the sovereign's ships when they are aboard. HRH Queen Elizabeth has a personal flag (E with crown surrounded by roses) as well as different personal standards for display when visiting each of the countries in the Commonwealth. Her Majesty's Personal Canadian flag and standards of members of the Royal Family will take precedence before the national flag of Canada; they are never half-masted. These flags and standards, like all personal flags, are never used by others. If more than one member of the Royal Family is present on an official visit, only the standard of the member taking precedence shall be flown. Resources to help you design your personal signal.
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