Indian Navy Flags

Last modified: 2002-12-14 by jonathan dixon
Keywords: india | military | navy | war ensign | rank flags |
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According to the Indian Navy, President Narayanan has approved a new war ensign as well as set of new flags for flag officer in the Indian Navy. The change will come into effect on 15 August 2001.

The changes are set out in a document called Naval ensign, distinguishing flags and pendants. Design & proportion published by the Indian Navy and distributed through its web site. As before, the war ensign consists of a white field with the Indian national flag in the canton, but it now bears the Indian Naval Crest without scroll instead of the old red cross throughout. The Indian Naval Crest consists of the Ashoka emblem, a foul anchor and a shield, and is in navy blue colour. In proportion, the new war ensign of India is 2:3. By replacing the red cross, known as the St. Georges Cross, India breaks with a British naval tradition with respect to war ensigns. Though the Indian war ensign is still a white ensign, it now features the national emblem, the Ashoka emblem with the three lions standing on a platform containing a chakra, a horse and a bull.
Jan Oskar Engene, 6 August 2001

The navy blue Indian Naval Crest is also found in the flags of flag officer's. These are generally speaking 2:3 in the ratio and made up of a white field bordered in navy blue, with the Indian Naval Crest set towards the hoist and a varying number of stars according to rank in the free end:

Admiral of the Fleet

An admiral of the fleet will have five stars (2-1-2).

Admiral

An admiral will have four stars (2-2).

Vice Admiral

A vice admiral will have three stars (1-1-1) .

Rear Admiral

A rear admiral will have two stars (1-1).

Commodore

A commodore's broad pennant is made according to a similar pattern, with the Indian Naval Crest and one star (ratio 1:2), all on a white field bordered in navy blue.

Senior Officer

The Senior Officer's pennant is triangular (ratio 1:2) with a white field bordered in navy blue and bearing the Indian Naval Crest.

Masthead Pennant

Construction details are available in Naval ensign, distinguishing flags and pendants. Design & proportion available from the Indian Navy home page.
Jan Oskar Engene, 6 August 2001

Old war ensign

by Zeljko Heimer

War ensign of India: St. George's cross with national flag in canton, ratio 1:2 (from Flagmakers Catalogue).

Zeljko Heimer

In a display of the three service flags in the Defense Planning Staff briefing room, was an Indian Navy white ensign with the fly end truncated to conform the size to the 2:3 dimensions of the other two flags on display. Also, the naval ensign had the wheel (chakhra) on the white stripe of the canton dark gold instead of blue. I have no idea why; the ensign in the lobby of the naval officers' club had a standard blue chakhra.
Joe McMillan, 3 December 2000

In the July issue of the US Naval Institute's Proceedings, there's an article on the Indian Navy, illustrated with a number of photos taken at the Navy's recent Fleet Review. It appears to me that the Indian naval ensign's proportions are 2:3. Also, the overall red cross of the FOTW image looks wider than the ones of the ensigns in the photograph.
Tom Gregg, 15 July 2001