RECREATION / BOATING : Running Up the Right Flag : 2 Specialists Help Boaters Keep Their Pennants Straight

To a non-boater, a “flag” is a stars and stripes banner that flutters in the breeze, most visibly on patriotic holidays, such as the Fourth of July.

But to a boater, that is called a “U.S. ensign” so it is not confused with any of the hundreds of pennants and burgees that make up the bewildering world of nautical flags--a world that includes foreign courtesy flags, yacht club burgees, house flags, fishing flags, racing pennants, battle flags and international signal flags.

Confused?

Most boaters are.

That’s why many Orange County boaters have come to rely on Corki Whitford and Celia Vanderpool, nautical flag makers and flag etiquette specialists. Whitford is owner of Nikki’s Flags in Newport Beach and Vanderpool is owner of Wind Rose Flags in San Clemente.

Both women can help you design a personal house flag and then tell you the proper way to fly it. They can even tell you about the latest changes to the flags of Mozambique, Tonga or Fiji. And, if you are planning a trip to either place, they can whip up a regulation courtesy flag, traditionally flown by boats when entering foreign ports.

Whitford, who bought Nikki’s Flags from the estate of the late Nikki Post, has been making nautical flags for 24 years. Vanderpool, who began sewing flags while cruising aboard a 28-foot sailboat in the South Pacific, has been in the business about 10 years. Although flag-making competitors, the women are good friends and enjoy swapping sewing stories.

“People call with questions about where a flag should be flown, how it should be flown,” Whitford says. “When we give advice, we always want it to be right. And as far as country flags, they depend on us to keep current.”

For example, recently Whitford was asked about the appropriateness of flying yellow ribbons to commemorate American hostages or members of the armed forces serving overseas. If a boat flies such a symbol, where and how should it be flown?

To answer the question, she relied on the Flag Research Center in Winchester, Mass. According to the center, as long as you stick to ribbons, you’re OK. But a yellow flag is not appropriate because it is the traditional symbol of quarantine.

As to where the yellow ribbon should be flown, the center says it should be attached to the halyard, rather than to the U.S. flag itself. And placement above the flag is acceptable, according to the center’s newsletter, because the ribbons are not a flag but an accessory.

“I teach a class on flag etiquette,” Whitford says. “Most people are pretty conscientious about flying their flags and burgees properly. Flags are really a universal way to communicate without language.”

In the early days, ships had to communicate by flags, and even though today’s use of flags is part decorative, communication is still a large part of the nautical flag business, Whitford says.

For example, a race committee communicates to its entrants through the use of signal flags that tell the sailors what course to follow and which way to sail it. Fishermen communicate with each other using flags that show what kind of fish was caught and whether it was tagged and released or killed. Yacht club members communicate with each other by flying flags that denote club membership.

Sophisticated flag-fliers can communicate via signal flags representing the alphabet. In addition, certain letters in sequence can convey entire phrases and sentences. For example, the signal flags representing the letters “NIV” mean, “How many sick?” “NKV” means, “I have lost sight of the land.”

The average boater owns three flags, according to Whitford: the U.S. ensign, a yacht club burgee and a personal house flag (an individually designed flag of the owner’s choice, flown only by that person).

But it is not uncommon for a boater to own a dozen flags, she says, including the 40-flag set of code signals (which Whitford counts as one flag). A fisherman, for example, might have flags denoting his catch--marlin, albacore, tuna, broadbill, yellowtail. Additionally, he might have a flag that signals “fish on the line, stay clear.”

A recent trend, she says, is for boaters to display a battle flag, an over-size version of the house flag. “This has caught on in the past five or six years,” she says. “Some people have battle flags 4 by 6 feet. You fly them from the bow stay, and they look really dramatic.”

Other boating flags include holiday symbols for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and other observances, according to Vanderpool. “Special occasion flags have become popular,” she says. “Last year at Thanksgiving, I got a call from a woman who said, ‘Do you hang your turkey flag above or below your yacht club burgee?’ I told her you hang it below.”

Another flag tradition catching on now among boaters, according to Vanderpool, is the practice of flying a flag in an empty slip to signify where the boat has gone. For example, when a couple left Dana Point to cruise in the San Francisco area, they flew a San Francisco city flag at their slip while they were gone.

All this flag-flying does not come cheap. A set of signal flags costs $300 and a battle flag can cost from $200 to $500. Even a simple house flag can cost $65 and an American ensign costs about $35.

If you fly your flags only on weekends and holidays, Whitford says, they’ll last you about five years. But if you fly them everyday, they may last only three months. When a flag becomes tattered, you should replace it, she says. “It is insulting to fly your country flag all in tatters.”

Nautical Flag Etiquette: Ships’ flags and signals have always been important because a ship, once outside its home waters, represents the country in which it is registered. Therefore, the ship should be easily identifiable.

The rules governing the flying of flags could easily fill an entire book. The following are just a few of the more common examples of nautical etiquette of interest to a beginning boater:

* Flying the U.S. Ensign: The most important flag to any boater. Indicates ship’s nationality. Should be larger than any other flag on the vessel and more prominently displayed, usually at the stern.

* Dressing Ship: Current practice is to use flags from the International Code of Signals. Practice is restricted to boats in harbor and special occasions. Flags should stretch from waterline fore to waterline aft.

* Courtesy Flag: The flag of a foreign country being visited. Flown in honor of that country as a courtesy. Used on entering a foreign port. Flown from the foremast or some other position easily visible and inferior in rank and size to the U.S. ensign.

* Yacht Club Burgee: Usually triangular in shape. On powerboats flown from bow staff. On sailboats flown from bow staff of single-masted vessels; foremost truck of vessels with two or more masts, and at the main truck of yawls and ketches.

* House Flag: Owner’s private signal. Usually swallow-tailed, sometimes rectangular or pennant. Flown from masthead of single-masted vessel. On vessels with two or more masts, flown from aftermost masthead. On mastless boats, may be flown from bow staff instead of club burgee.

(Sources: “Flags Through the Ages and Across the World” and “Chapman Piloting: Seamanship and Small Boat Handling.”)