Sailing Flags

The Jimmy Green Flag Team are enthusiastic about flags and offer the most comprehensive range of sailing flags and flag accessories:

• 214 at the last count - UV resistant Half Yard Courtesy flags in 100% woven polyester - essential when in "foreign waters."
• 3/4 yard Courtesy Flag options
• All 40 Signal code flags supplied individually or in a set, in two sizes - for relaying essential messages, racing signals, and for frivolous crew fun
• Red and Blue Ensigns available as printed flags or traditional sewn flags with a Premium Sewn option for the discerning yacht owner
• Foreign Sewn Ensign options
• Flag accessories (including wooden toggles, Englefield clips, and lanyard blocks)
• Flagstaffs and flagstaff fittings.
• Flag-making and repair accessories

Courtesy Flags

Jimmy Green Courtesy Flags are manufactured to a very high standard in our supply partner factory in Italy. The strict quality controls ensure that each flag is well crafted, neatly stitched, UV-Fade, and Wind-Fray Resilient. All Courtesy Flags are manufactured from strong and durable 145 grams per m² (+/- 5%) top quality 100% polyester, specially knit, woven bunting to measure 45cm x 30cm (Half Yard) with colourfast screenprint patterns and motifs.

Jimmy Green Half Yard Courtesy Flag Plus Factors:

• Half yard size (traditional diagonal measurement) is nominal and may vary slightly due to the nature of the production/sewing process.
• Screen printed on one piece of flag fabric
• Excellent definition/detail on motifs, crests, and emblems
• Top quality UV resistant 100% polyester woven bunting
• Colourfast and fade resistant
• Hoist reinforced with special flag webbing tape
• Braided line sewn into the integral hoist tape, creating a loop at the top and a tail at the bottom as per the photos
• Finished with twin stitched hems (outside edges)

Jimmy Green Courtesy Flags are not made from the shiny, cheaper nylon fabric, nor are they the smaller 20cm x 30cm size.

Jimmy Green stock well over 200 different Courtesy Flags, and we will add more if there is any demand.

All Jimmy Green Courtesy Flags are available individually: You can search the flags by Ocean/Location. Some Flags may appear in more than one zone, e.g., Spain = North Atlantic and Mediterranean. There is also additional local geographical information to help your search. The Parent Country is also listed where appropriate so that you can identify whether you need a specific island flag or not:

e.g. The Netherlands or Netherlands Antilles Courtesy Flag may cover Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, Saba, Bonaire, Curacao. However, the feel-good factor when you make landfall and sail into your chosen anchorage flying the correct local courtesy flag will more than compensate for the extra price of the individual flags :-)

Jimmy Green Courtesy Flags are also available in Bundles by Voyage Plan, Ocean Passage, or Location.

Any feedback on local reaction to our courtesy flags is welcomed - we will happily do some more research, update our information and even our flags if required. Where there are different options on courtesy flags, we list them separately. Any first-hand feedback is always welcome, e.g. Bermuda is usually red, which is what is listed, but they are generally welcomed in Bermuda in blue. We have some blue ones if you would like one.

Spain is available as the simple red/yellow/red horizontal striped courtesy (less expensive) or with the correct Yacht Ensign Crest option.

N.B. Foreign Yachts should fly the red ensign as a courtesy flag when visiting the UK (not a Union Jack) and may also fly the red ensign for some associated British islands, dominions, and territories without offending.

Jimmy Green 3/4 Yard Courtesy Flag for larger yachts or making a statement Plus Factors:

Premium Sewn and Appliqué Sewn: manufactured in the UK 

• Three Quarter Yard Size (traditional diagonal measurement) is a nominal 70cm x 35cm and may vary slightly due to the nature of the production/sewing process.
• Complex motifs are screen prints or badges appliquéed to the appropriate panels
• Tricolours and other simple panels are fully sewn - stitched together to form the complete pattern
• Complex panels are full-screen prints
• Excellent definition/detail on motifs, crests, and emblems
• Top quality MoD UV resistant 100% polyester woven bunting
• Component panels cut out from MOD approved 155gm m² top quality UV resistant 100% polyester woven bunting
• Rich colours
• Colourfast and fade resistant
• Hoist reinforced with special flag webbing tape
• Braided Polyester line sewn into the integral hoist tape, creating a loop to grip the varnished toggle at the top and a tail at the bottom
• Finished with triple stitched hems (outside edges)

N.B. Due to the intricate nature of some emblems and motifs, the screen-printed design is sewn onto the panel using the appliqué stitching technique. Some complex patterns and flags made up from multiple shapes, e.g. fesses, pales, bends, crosses, palls, chevrons, bends, and borders - may be made from one screen-printed piece of flag fabric: FLAG SHAPES AND GLOSSARY

Courtesy Flag Etiquette

As a gesture of courtesy, yachts should fly a foreign nation's flag when they enter and operate in its waters.

There are no universal rules governing courtesy flag etiquette.

Officials interpret the rules differently from country to country, region to region, island to island, or port to port.

Failing to fly a courtesy flag or flying a courtesy flag improperly may only be considered impolite in some places. Still, in others where it is enforced by local law, officials go as far as impounding passports or imposing fines until the proper flag (which may only be available to purchase locally at great expense) is flying on board.

Flag Etiquette Guide

Signal Code Flags

Jimmy Green individual Signal Code Flags are manufactured in our modern supplier partner factory in Italy from top quality UV resistant 100% polyester woven bunting.

Jimmy Green Marine stock all 40 Signal Code Flags from A - Z plus numerals and pennants, available individually or as a set with or without a storage wallet.

Available in both 12" x 8" (30cm x 20cm) or Half Yard (45cm x 30cm) Size

• Half yard or 12" x 8" size (traditional diagonal measurement) is nominal and may vary slightly due to the nature of the production/sewing process.
• Sizing on pennants and numerals is nominal due to their different shape - dimensions are in keeping with flag size
• Screen printed on one piece of flag fabric
• Top quality UV resistant 100% polyester woven bunting
• Colourfast and fade resistant
• Hoist reinforced with special flag webbing tape
• Braided line sewn into the integral hoist tape, creating a loop at the top and a tail at the bottom as per the photos
• Finished with twin stitched hems (outside edges)

Signal Flag Alphabet

Flag Quality and Construction

Jimmy Green Sailing Flags are screen printed in our supplier partner, state-of-the-art, modern factory in Italy on top quality UV resistant (for reduced fading) 100% polyester woven bunting.

Printed polyester courtesy flags are lighter, size for size than traditional sewn flags, and will therefore fly better in a light breeze. This also helps to explain why sewn flags seem to last longer – they don’t fly (flap) as much as printed flags.

Sewn Ensigns are sewn together using the same top quality UV resistant 100% woven polyester.

All Jimmy Green courtesy flags, code flags, and ensigns have a braided distance line on the hoist with a loop sewn in at the top and a trailing line at the bottom. N.B. Premium Ensigns are fitted with a varnished toggle in the loop. Flag Size Guide