Ensign measurements

[Steve_in_lex]

I'm a new owner and the PO kept his ensign.  Can't blame him - much sentimental value in it, I imagine. 

The next time one of you is on your boat, would you mind taking the masurements of your ensign and flagstaff?  Much appreciated.

Steve

[Roc]

Steve,
Welcome and nice boat choice.  The C34 is a great boat..  Proper flag sizing is that you should get a flag that is 1" for every foot of boat length.  So for a 34 ft. boat, your flag should be at least 34" long.  The closest to that dimension in the store is a 36" flag.  That's the size to get.  It seems big, but many people put little puny flags on their boat and they look ridiculous. 

[Ken Juul]

Roc's answer us correct.  But it depends on where you fly it.  36" off the backstay looks and works great.  36" on the pushpit and it just hangs or bangs on the grill/outboard or gets in the way when using the swim ladder.  I chose to go with a smaller, think it is 18" mounted on the davit cross bar.

[Jim Hardesty]

Roc is right.  However, on Shamrock the dinghy motor storage is on the same side as the flag pole holder.  The 36" flag got snagged on the motor sometimes.  So I went with a 30"  wouldn't go smaller.   The pole is 36" long.
Jim

here is a picture, the flag has a wrap so it looks even smaller

[Roc]

I have a 36" flag on a teak staff, mounted on the pushpit.  Placed on the stock mounting hole that Catalina provides.

[Stu Jackson]

The length should approximate your boat.

I've used 24X36 for the past 15 years.

[Steve_in_lex]

Thanks all, I appreciate the info.  This forum has gotten me through a long New England winter.  Great photo, Jim.

Steve

[sailr4]

So, would you use a 3 ft pole for a 2 x 3 flag?  Would a 30" pole look ridiculous?

[Roc]

I think the flag dimensions are the critical factor.  Too small of a flag looks ridiculous.  The length should be 1" per foot of boat.  Flags come in standard sizes, so a 36" flag would be good for our boats.  The staffs also come in standard sizes.  Probably twice the length of the height of the flag (or less) would look proportional.

[Stu Jackson]

West Marine Advisors have a good description for both flags & poles.  24 x 36 is the right size for our boats.  I just bought a 48" pole for the standard starboard side flagstaff holder.  I'd been attaching my flag to the backstay for the past 16 years, but balancing up on the stern perch seat and binnacle had become a tad too risky.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : I used a 2' x 3' Yacht Ensign (documented boats) either on a 3' teak pole off the pushpit or a 2' x 3' off the back stay 3/4 of the way up.

A thought

[Fred Koehlmann]

...and for a Canadian perspective, our flag has a 1:2 ratio for height to length, so our flag at the stern is 18" x 36". For the flag staff I found that a 1" hardwood dowel worked just fine. I sanded the end to give the illusion of a post cap and stained and urethaned it to give it a deeper colour and weather proof it. When using the BBQ, I do furl it so that is doesn't get in the way.

On Canada Day we pull out our special 4'x8' flag, and hoist her 3/4 the way up the backstay. My dad use to fly that one on his a Grampian 26. It would almost act as a sail for him.

[Stu Jackson]

Here's both.  Blasphemy? 

[Dave Spencer]

No Blasphemy Stu.

Here's my friend's  C34 named "The Instigator" in our casual fall race series at Lion's Head.  Each flag represents the home nationality of each of the crew aboard. 
The Maple Leaf of Canada
The Lion Rampant - The Royal Flag of Scotland
The Union Jack and Southern Cross of New Zealand
and the Stars and Stripes of the United States

I was interested by the comments on the different proportions of the American and Canadian flags.  I checked the internet and found the American flag is proportioned 19:10 and the Canadian flag is 2:1.  (It's on the internet so it must be true!   ) 
http://www.usflag.org/flagspecs.html
http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1363357466548/1363343512974

The Olympic committee insists that all flags are the same proportion during the games and adjust the flags flown at the venues and hoisted during medal ceremonies to be proportioned 2:3 which makes them look a little off.  The red sidebars and the centre white section on the Canadian flag are taller compared to the Maple Leaf and the stripes on the American flag are shorter... just not right (although I love this particular picture... )

[Ted Pounds]

Dave,
Just curious (I don't mean anything by it), what determined the order of the flags on your friends boat?  I'm guessing it too was a Canadian vessel so, obviously, the Maple Leaf goes on top.  But how did he pick the order for the other three?  Or was it just random?