06/22/2026
British Ensign
1707 - 1776
Adopted by Queen Ann (1665-1714), the Red Ensign, also known as the “Colonial Red Ensign,” was the flag that flew in British territories and colonial possessions beginning in 1707.
The flag, commonly called the “Meteor” Flag, was best known as the British Maritime flag.
The Red Ensign was developed as part of a class of flags to be distinctive from a distance, allowing ships at sea to identify other British ships before closing to within firing range. The banner was created by placing the “King’s Flag” into the canton of a solid red flag.
According to a brief history of the flag, it was “widely used on ships during the Colonial period.” The flag was also used in English ports and at colonial fortifications and outposts around the world. It was recognized as the “national flag of the English colonies.”
When British forces and their allies marched out of Yorktown, Virginia, to surrender to the Continental Army on October 17, 1781, reports indicated that the color bearers were carrying a British ensign.
The flag was no longer used by patriotic colonials after 1776.
