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The answer is yes, as far as British practice is concerned.
A warrant for a special ensign is issued to a named person for a named boat; the two go together. If the owner lends or charters his boat to someone else, they may not fly the special ensign. If the person borrowing or chartering the boat is also a member of the same club, a temporary warrant to fly the special ensign may be issued, but only if the other member is British.
If the person named on the warrant is also a member of another yacht club, he ought not to fly the special ensign on the named boat, if he is flying the burgee of the other club. The special ensign and the burgee should match. This has not been specified in the warrant regulations because it is appreciated that there might be circumstances in which it is not appropriate. One example given in explaining this was of an owner entitled to a special ensign who was also a member of a Belgian yacht club. Whenever he visited the Belgian club he flew the special ensign, but as a courtesy, flew the burgee of the Belgian club. He should more correctly have flown the undefaced Red Ensign, but special ensigns have prestige which owners are reluctant to relinquish, even temporarily.
British yacht club special ensigns can be, (in order of "seniority"), the White Ensign (Royal Yacht Squadron), undefaced Blue Ensign (32 clubs), Blue Ensign defaced with the badge of the club (57) or Red Ensign defaced (14). There is also a defaced RAF Ensign for the RAF Sailing Association, but I don't know where that fits into the pecking order.
Royal Naval Reserve Blue Ensigns on merchant ships were similar. Named master for named ship. Originally when the master took command of another ship he had to re-apply for a new warrant, but this was changed so that he could carry-over the warrant, but only if the ship was owned by the same shipping company. He had to inform the Admiralty of the change, and there had to be enough naval reservists in the crew of the new ship to qualify. I would be surprised if there are any merchant ships that still fly the Blue Ensign.
David Prothero, 9 February 2000
Originally it was, as far as I
have been able to establish, the choice of the club. In 1927 it was decided that
since a plain Blue Ensign was the ensign of the Royal Naval Reserve, no more
would be authorised for yacht clubs. In fact three more were authorised, but
only for Service clubs; Royal Naval Sailing Association in 1936, Royal Naval
Volunteer Reserve YC in 1958 and Royal Marines Sailing Club in 1965.
There is an unwritten pecking-order based, it would seem, on heraldic
principles, that a yacht club with a plain Blue Ensign ranks above a club with a
defaced Blue Ensign, which in turn ranks above a club with a defaced Red Ensign;
but this was not the view of the Admiralty. When the Royal Dee YC had its
warrant withdrawn in 1928 because it had too few yachts, it offered to change
from a defaced Blue to a defaced Red Ensign if this would enable it to retain a
special ensign. The Admiralty replied that, "the standard required before a
yacht club can be authorised to fly a special ensign is the same whether the
ensign be the Blue Ensign, the defaced Blue Ensign, or the defaced Red Ensign."
David Prothero, 16 November 2002
On the website of a yacht club (I forgot which) I read that the ensign was
undefaced if the club was already "Royal".
Bryan-Kinns Merrick, 15 November 2002
Yacht clubs do not have royal charters. It is simply a title which they are
permitted to use, as a prefix to the name of the club. In the latter part of the
19th century some clubs that wanted a special ensign, would apply to the Home
Office for the title 'royal', in the belief that possessing the title would
improve their chances of being granted an ensign. It actually worked the other
way round. Any requests for the 'royal' title received by the Home Office were
passed to the Admiralty with the question, "Does this club have a special
ensign, and if not, would one be granted if it applied?" If the Admiralty
replied, "No", and "Would not", the club's request was almost certain to be
refused.
David Prothero, 16 November 2002
![[Blue Ensign defaced with badge]](../images/g/gb~rafsa.gif)
located by Jose C Alegria
An example of a light blue British yacht ensign, from the RAF Sailing Association from www.rafsa.org.uk
![[Lossiemouth Cruising Club]](../images/g/gb-s-lsc.gif)
located by Dov Gutterman
from www.lossiecc.co.uk
![[Royal Cornwall Yacht Ensign]](../images/g/gb~rcorn.gif)
by Jose C. Alegria Diaz
The special ensign granted to boat owners members of the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club.
Jose C. Alegria Diaz, 15 August 2000
The Royal Dee Yacht Club blue ensign is defaced with a brown bird's head facing the hoist, with a yellow crown above it. (Looks like a waterfowl, maybe intended as coloured properly.) The burgee is blue with the same charge.
Source: Norie and Hobbs (1848)
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 12 November 2001
For 153 years, The Royal Thames YC has used an undefaced Blue Ensign (without any badge). The Royal Thames is one of the first clubs to use the plain blue ensign, and the club's use of the flag is indeed well known in yachting circles.
Since 1848, the RTYC has been authorized to allow qualified members to use the undefaced Blue Ensign.
The Club first used a plain white ensign, defaced with a club badge during the 1830s. Then, in 1842, the Admiralty decided that the White Ensign should be exclusive to the Royal Yacht Squadron (the nation's senior club). Thereafter, from mid-1842 until 1848, the RTYC used a Blue Ensign that was defaced in the fly with a crown (and I believe this was a red-colored depiction of the Royal crown).
In 1848, the club changed to a plain Blue Ensign, and this has remained the same ever since. I do not know the reason why the crown was removed in 1848. I do know that the plain Blue Ensign ranks higher in precedence than a defaced version.
Sources: Navy List 2001 page 243; Navy List 1995 page 260; Navy List 1989 page 298; Navy List 1973, page 599. Navy Lists of 1938 page 369; and 1927 page 364A. (all listing RTYC as using Blue Ensign undefaced).
James T. Liston, 9 December 2001
![[Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club]](../images/g/gb~ryyc.jpg)
image originally displayed for sale on EBay.
The ensign of the Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club (and granted in 1929, Victorian crown notwithstanding).
Ian Sumner, 25 June 2002
The special ensign of the RYYC was granted in 1879, but transferred from the
Red Ensign to the Blue Ensign in 1929.
David Prothero, 26 June 2002
That is the blue ensign of the Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club. The white
rose is the emblem of Yorkshire, while the red rose is the emblem of
Lancashire. When the House of Lancaster fought the House of York for
the crown of England it was called the War of the Roses. The Tudors
combined both the red rose and white rose to make the Tudor rose (red
petals on the outside, white on the inside) and ever since the Tudor
rose has been used for Royal Heraldry when a general rose is
required. The separate white and red roses are still used by their
respective counties and by state official especially connected with
them. For example York Herald's emblem is a sun with a white rose in
the centre, a "Rose en soleil".
Graham Bartram, 15 August 2000
![[UK naval ensign]](../images/g/gb-whien.gif)
by Vincent Morley
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 12 November 2001
![[Sheppey Yacht Club]](../images/g/gb~shpyc.gif)
by Ivan Sache
Blue burgee with a green lozenge placed horizontally charged with a white S. Sheppey Yacht Club is located in Sheerness, in the north of Kent, on the Isle of Sheppey. The club was founded in 1932. I interpret the burgee as showing the island in green within the sea in blue. Source: www.dinghyweb.com/syc/
Ivan Sache, 17 June 2002
![[Tewkesbury Cruising & Sailing Club]](../images/g/gb-e-tsc.gif)
located by Dov Gutterman
from www.tc-sc.co.uk/
![[Wilsonian Sailing Club]](../images/g/gb~wilsc.gif)
by Ivan Sache
Burgee vertically divided black-white-yellow. The Wilsonian Sailing Club is on the north bank of the river Medway close to the village of Hoo, near Rochester. It is probably the largest club solely for dinghy sailors in the north of Kent. Source: www.wilsoniansc.org.uk
Ivan Sache, 17 June 2002