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Historical Flags (Malta)

Introduction
Maltese Ensign 19th Century?
State Ensign 1875-c.1898
State Ensign 1923-1943
State Ensign 1943-1964
Governor's Flags 1875-1964
Brigadier Commanding the British Troops
Civil Ensign 19th Century - c.1898 (reported 1860)
Civil Ensign c.1898-1943 (unofficial)
Civil Flag until 1943 (unofficial)
Order of Saint Stephen (mistakenly reported as a Maltese flag in old charts)
Old Maltese flag with a Sun?

See also:

Historical Ensigns of the Order of Malta (Maltese flags until the late 18th century)
Colonies of the United Kingdom
Malta

Introduction

According to Barraclough and Crampton 1981, p. 129:

White and red have always been used as the colours of Malta, and after the island was acquired by the British, the Knights of St John having been expelled by Napoleon in 1798, ensign badges in various combinations of these colours, with and without the Maltese Cross, were in use. The most recent form was a plain vertical shield of white and red. To this was added by Royal Warrant on 28 December 1943, 'a representation of the George Cross proper'. (...) At first the George Cross was contained in a small blue canton, but when Malta became independent on 21 September 1964 the blue background was removed. This island had already transformed its blue ensign badge into a flag for local use in 1947, and this flag, without the blue background to the George Cross, continued in use on independence. (...)

Flaggenbuch 1939 shows Malta having both red and blue colonial ensigns, the badge being a shield per pale argent and gules i.e. vertically white and red, with a relief border in yellow, all on a white circle — which disappears in the case of the blue ensign. The shape of the shield is completely curvilinear, as was frequent in English and French heraldry in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I wonder how was the shield modified in 1943 to include the canton with the George Cross. The shape of the 1939 version does not lend itself easily to this, so perhaps the shield was changed to a more common shape.

Santiago Dotor, 2 February 2000

None of the badges appeared officially on a Red Ensign. Unofficially, second and third probably did.

David Prothero, 7 February 2000

Maltese Ensign 19th Century?

Znamierowski 2000, French edition, p. 6, shows a colour plate from Colton's Delineation of Flags of All Nations, 1862. Two Maltese ensigns are displayed on the plate, the first (#129) labelled Malta showing a white field with a decentered St.George's cross defining a square canton, which includes an Union Jack.

Ivan Sache, 10 March 2001

But isn't that simply a British White Ensign? Which of course could be frequently spotted in Malta at that time.

Santiago Dotor, 13 March 2001

Steenbergen, Vlaggen van Alle Natien, Amsterdam 1862 shows for Malta a red flag, white St George's cross, Union [Flag] canton. This seems a more likely design for a Maltese flag in the period before British maritime flags were re-organised in 1864.

David Prothero, 13 March 2001

State Ensign 1875-c.1898

1:2
by Jaume Ollé

The flag from 1875 to c.1898 had a different badge.

Jaume Ollé, 6 February 2000

The first badge was a white Maltese cross on white/red panel framed with ginger-bread. I would be interested to know the source of the date when this badge was replaced (1898). I assumed a date of about 1905 because there is a letter, noting that the Maltese badge needs to be changed, amongst the documents used in the preparation of the 1907 edition of the Admiralty Flag Book (Source: ADM 116/1064A) i.e. the badge was not amended in the 1889 edition. That could have been an over-sight.

David Prothero, 7 February 2000

State Ensign 1923-1943

1:2
by Santiago Dotor and António Martins

This blue ensign was in use from 1919 to 28 December 1943. The blue ensign c.1898 to 1919 was [the same] with a white circle.

Jaume Ollé, 6 February 2000

The second badge was a white/red shield with pointed top and gold border. It is interesting that the Maltese cross does not appear on the second badge. Perhaps the badge was changed because it had been realised that the cross was less to do with Malta and more to do with the Order of St John. On the Blue Ensign this was on a white circle until 1923. [From] 1923 no white circle on Blue Ensign. Source: Governor's letter dated 16 January 1923 in ADM 116/1847B.

David Prothero, 7 February 2000

State Ensign 1943-1964

The third badge was a white/red flat top shield with George Cross on blue canton. On a white circle on the Blue Ensign. Source: List of colonial badges in the 1965 amendment to Flags of All Nations B.R. 20(1) 1955.

David Prothero, 7 February 2000

Until when was this blue ensign used? I would have guessed until 1964 (Maltese independence), but then how does it appear on a 1965 amendment? Maybe the amendment was published 1964 but prepared early in 1964 when independence was not yet clearly envisaged?

Santiago Dotor, 15 December 2000

I had not noticed that the amendment date was after the flag had been discontinued. It was a general amendment listing whether or not badges were displayed on a white disc. As you supposed, an amendment that needed amending.

David Prothero, 15 December 2000

This is a scan of the arms/badge shown in Strickland 1992. The dexter should be white, the sinister red, the canton blue and the George Cross white.

David Prothero, 4 March 2001

Governor's Flags 1875-1964

All badges [first, second and third] were on a white circle surrounded by a garland on the Union Flag of the Governor.

David Prothero, 7 February 2000

The defaced Union Flag would have been in use until 1964. On independence the Governor was replaced by a Governor General (crest on blue flag) until 1974 when Malta became a republic.

David Prothero, 15 December 2000

Brigadier Commanding the British Troops

by Ivan Sache

The General Officer commanding the British Troops in Malta with a rank of Major General used a rectangular red flag with a Maltese cross in the centre. This rank was later reduced to Brigadier and the flag changed to triangular. Source: Strickland 1999.

Ivan Sache, 28 February 2000

Civil Ensign 19th Century - c.1898

Reported 1860

In the 19th century there may have been a Red Ensign with a white St George's cross and no badge i.e. a Union Flag in the canton of the flag of the Order of St John. Source: Flags of All Nations, K.Z.Steenbergen. Amsterdam c.1860.

David Prothero, 7 February 2000

The impression I have is that it was more like 2:3 than 1:2.

David Prothero, 15 December 2000

Civil Ensign c.1898-1943 (unofficial)

1:2
by Santiago Dotor and António Martins

This red ensign was in use from c.1898 to 28 December 1943.

Jaume Ollé, 6 February 2000

This badge did not appear officially on a Red Ensign. Unofficially, it probably did.

David Prothero, 7 February 2000

The Flags of All Nations chart on pages 186-187 of Smith 1975 (probably compiled 1916) has several mistakes. In general the proportions of the flags are too square, the badges too large and not centred in the fly. Among several incorrect flags it shows a Red Ensign with badge for Malta. The official Red Ensign for Malta was the plain undefaced Red Ensign. I have not seen references to any unofficial Maltese Red Ensigns [at that time].

David Prothero, 15 and 19 December 2000

Civil Flag until 1943 (unofficial)

2:3
by Ivan Sache

According to Barraclough and Crampton 1981, p. 129:

White and red have always been used as the colours of Malta (...) This island had already transformed its blue ensign badge into a flag for local use in 1947, and this flag, without the blue background to the George Cross, continued in use on independence.

Santiago Dotor, 2 February 2000

The pre-George Cross [1943] flag of Malta [was simply white-red].

Ivan Sache, 28 February 2000

Order of Saint Stephen

Mistakenly reported as a Maltese flag in old charts

by Randy Young

In the 1771 Encyclopedia Britannica Malta appears as a red Maltese cross on a white field.

Randy Young, 1 December 1998

I did not see either the white Maltese cross on a red field (except as part of the civil ensign) or its reversed pattern even in battle pictures. One exception to this is a flag which was the reverse of the civil ensign, thus red Maltese cross on a white field with a red border which was part of the display of a flag and banner makers company at the Crafts Museum. Unfortunately, there was no caption or other indication of what the flag might be.

Norman Martin, 26 November 2000

The red eight pointed cross on a white field is the flag of the Tuscan Order of Saint Stephen, now extinct. It is often (incorrectly) associated with Malta, appearing on several charts of maritime flags as such. There are cases where it is still used in this manner in Malta, notably the Band Club of Kalkara and by the national carrier Sea Malta, as shown in my book (Strickland 1992) p. 34.

Adrian Strickland, 30 November 2000

According to Peter Bander van Duren, Orders of Knighthood and of Merit, p. 339, the Tuscan Order of Saint Stephen:

It was founded in 1562, by Cosimo de'Medici, Duke of Florence. Its members were of noble birth and had to belong to the Catholic religion... Abolished during the French Revolution, Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany revived the Order in 1817... The Order was abolished in 1866, when the Grand Duchy of Tuscany became part of the Italian Kingdom, but the Grand Duke continued to award it because he considered the Order to be dynastic and belonging to the the House of Habsburg-Tuscany.

One can see from this that there is and never has been any connection with the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of Malta.

Adrian Strickland, 3 December 2000

Znamierowski 2000, French edition, p. 6, shows a colour plate from Colton's Delineation of Flags of All Nations, 1862. Two Maltese ensigns are displayed on the plate, the second one (#130) labelled Malta, showing a white field with a decentered Maltese cross. This seems to be a variant of the flag of the order of St. Stephen, mistakenly reported as a Maltese flag in an old chart.

Ivan Sache, 10 March 2001

From Colton, Delineation of Flags of All Nations, 1862

by Ivan Sache

Old Maltese flag with a Sun?

I got a strange old Malta flag for my collection a few days ago. The flag is of the 1943-1964 model, that is with the George Cross medal on a blue canton. What makes it strange though, is the cross itself because in the centre it bears an eight rayed sun (Taiwan/Namibia style). I am inclined to think that this is just an invention of the manufacturer —the flag is probably made in Norway— because he did not know the exact details. Or is there any official justification for the sun?

Jan Oskar Engene, 13 April 1997