Flags of the British Empire

The Flags of the British Empire past and present are many and various.

The lists below exclude the flags of the United Kingdom and its counties and islands and the current flags of the Crown dependencies and overseas territories, which are listed as "Flags of the British overseas territories". It is a gallery of the principal flags of the colonies, protectorates, protected states and associated states which made up that grand enterprise, the British Empire in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:

Dominions to 1945

In 1931, six major colonies were given effective independence by the Statute of Westminster. Many others followed later, though after India and Pakistan attained dominion status in 1947 the clamour for independence by that name tended to the development of the Commonwealth not the suggestion of equality in the one Empire suggested by the title of "dominion", and so the later independent realms are not included here.

One dominion, Newfoundland, reverted effectively to colony status almost immediately following a financial collapse. Southern Rhodesia was treated as a dominion though not officially of that status.

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1903 - 1909	Commonwealth of Australia	A blue ensign bearing the Commonwealth star of six points and the southern cross
	1909 -		A blue ensign bearing the Commonwealth star of seven points and the southern cross
	1868 - 1921	Dominion of Canada	A red ensign defaced with the coat of arms of the Dominion of Canada
	1921 - 1957		A red ensign defaced with the coat of arms of the Dominion of Canada
	1957 - 1965		A red ensign defaced with the coat of arms of the Dominion of Canada
	1922 -	Irish Free State	A tricolour of green, white and orange
	1907 - 1931	Newfoundland	A red ensign bearing the emblem of Newfoundland
	1910 -	New Zealand	A blue ensign bearing the four principal stars of the southern cross voided gules
	1910 - 1912	Union of South Africa	A red ensign defaced with the arms of South Africa
	1912 - 1928		A red ensign defaced with the arms of South Africa inside a white disc
	1928 - 1961		Variation of the Dutch prinsenvlagge with the white stripe defaced with the Union Flag, the Orange Free State Vierkleur and the Transvaal Vierkleur. This Republic of South Africa used this flag until 1994.
	1923 - 1953	Southern Rhodesia	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of Southern Rhodesia

Colonies, protectorates and other territories

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1838–1967	Aden	A blue ensign defaced with an Arab ship inside a disc
	- 1967	Antigua and Barbuda	A blue ensign defaced with the colonial coat of arms of Antigua
	1885–1958	Barbados	A Blue Ensign with an emblem of Barbados
	1958–1966	Barbados	A Blue Ensign with an emblem of Barbados
	1937–1948	Burma	A blue ensign defaced with a peafowl inside a disc
	1922–1961	The British Cameroons	A blue ensign defaced with the words British Cameroon surrounded by bananas all inside a white disc
	1815–1948	Ceylon	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of Ceylon
	1922–1960	Cyprus	A blue ensign defaced with two red lions
	1955–1965	Dominica	A Blue Ensign with an emblem of Dominica
	1965–1978	Dominica	A Blue Ensign with an emblem of Dominica
	1948–1999	Falkland Islands	A Blue Ensign defaced with the Coat of Arms of the Falkland Islands on a white disc
	1875–1921	Gibraltar (Government Ensign)	A Blue Ensign defaced with the badge of Gibraltar on a white disc
	1932–1976	Gillbert and Ellice Islands	A Blue Ensign defaced with the Arms of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands
	1821–1957	Colony of the Gold Coast	A blue ensign defaced with an elephant and the letters GC under the feet of the elephant all inside a disc
	1919–1954	British Guiana	A blue ensign defaced with a sailing ship and the motto inside an oval
	1807 – 1890	Heligoland	The Heligoland triband with The Union Flag
	1919–1981	British Honduras	A blue ensign defaced with a the arms of British Honduras
	1870–1873	Hong Kong	A blue ensign defaced with the letters HK and a royal crown in a white disc
	1876–1910	Hong Kong	A blue ensign defaced with the Colonial Badge of Hong Kong
	1910–1941, 1945–1959	Hong Kong	A blue ensign defaced with the Colonial Badge of Hong Kong
	1959–1997	Hong Kong	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of Hong Kong in a white disc
	Late 1980s-1997	Unofficial merchant ensign of Hong Kong	A red ensign defaced with the arms of Hong Kong in a white disc
	1858–1947	British India	A red ensign defaced with the shield of the Order of the Star of India
	1858–1947	British Indian Blue Ensign	A Blue ensign with the Star of India, used as the naval flag
	1815–1864	Ionian Islands	A blue ensign defaced with the shield of the symbol of Mark the Evangelist
	1875–1906	Jamaica	A British Blue Ensign defaced with the arms of Jamaica within a white circle
	1906–1957	Jamaica	A British Blue Ensign defaced with the arms of Jamaica within a white circle
	1957–1962	Jamaica	A British Blue Ensign defaced with the arms of Jamaica within a white circle
	1962	Jamaica	A British Blue Ensign defaced with the arms of Jamaica within a white circle
	1920–1963	Kenya Colony	A blue ensign defaced with a red rampant lion
	1946–1948	The Federated Malay States	The flag was striped horizontally with an overall 1:2 to ratio with white stripe at the top, red, yellow and black at the bottom. In the centre was a white oblong, with a horizontal major axis, and a Malayan tiger leaping, face to the left
	1802–1964	Malta	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of Malta in a white disc
	1800–1960	Nigeria	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of Nigeria
	1882–1963	North Borneo	A blue ensign defaced with the badge of North Borneo
	1939–1953, 1963–1964	Northern Rhodesia	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of Northern Rhodesia
	1907–1953, 1963–1964	Nyasaland	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of Nyasaland
	1927–1948	British Mandate Palestine	A red ensign defaced with the word Palestine inside a white disc, for use by ships registered in the territory. The Union Jack was used as the general land flag of the mandate.
	1906–1949	Papua	A blue ensign defaced with a crown and the word Papua underneath inside a white disc
	1958–1983	St Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla	A blue ensign defaced with the emblem of St Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
	1875–1939	Saint Lucia	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of Saint Lucia
	1939–1967	Saint Lucia	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of Saint Lucia]]
	-1979	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
	1950–1960	British Somaliland	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of British Somaliland
	1795–1910	Cape Colony	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of Cape Colony
	1900–1910	Orange River Colony	A blue ensign defaced with a springbok antelope in a disc
	1900–1910	Transvaal - "Vierkleur".	The flag features three horizontal stripes of red, white, and blue (recalling the Dutch prinsenvlagge), with a vertical green stripe at the hoist, and was known as the Vierkleur (lit. four colours).
	1953–1963	The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland	A blue ensign defaced with the arms of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
	1963–1980	Rhodesia	A light blue ensign defaced with the arms of Southern Rhodesia
	1874–1942	The British Straits Settlements	A blue ensign defaced with a white disc containing three gold crown; separated with a red inverted pall.
	1919–1961	Tanganyika	A red ensign defaced with the head of a giraffe in a white disc
	1889–1962	Trinidad and Tobago	A blue ensign defaced with a circular badge depicting a ship arriving in front of a mountain
	1976–1978	Tuvalu	A blue ensign defaced with a circular badge with a hut and the motto of Tuvalu
	1914–1962	Uganda	A blue ensign defaced with a grey crowned crane inside a disc
	1958–1962	The West Indies Federation	Four equally-spaced narrow white stripes with a large orange-gold disc over the middle two lines in the centre of the flag, undulating horizontally across a blue field

Governors' flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1999 -	Governor of the Falkland Islands	A Union Jack defaced with the arms of the Falkland Islands
	1959–1997	Flag flown on Government House and the Governor's official car	A Union Flag defaced with the then arms of Hong Kong
	1855–1947	Governor-General of India, Lieutenant Governors, Chief Commissioners and other British officers in India	A Union Jack defaced with the Star of India surmounted by a Crown.
	1875–1948	Governor of Ceylon	A Union Jack defaced with the Coat of arms of Ceylon.
	1875–1906	Governor of Jamaica	A Union Flag defaced with the Badge of Jamaica
	1906–1957	Governor of Jamaica	A Union Flag defaced with the Badge of Jamaica
	1957–1962	Governor of Jamaica	A Union Flag defaced with the Badge of Jamaica
	1962	Governor of Jamaica	A Union Flag defaced with the Badge of Jamaica

Colonial company flags

The East India Company

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1600–1706	The English East India Company	White and red stripes with the St George's Cross in the canton, the number of stripes was not determined.
	1707–1800	The British East India Company	White and red stripes with the Union Flag of Great Britain in the canton.
	1801–1858	The British East India Company	White and red stripes with the Union Flag of the United Kingdom in the canton.

Others

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1889 - 1961	The British South Africa Company	The Union Flag defaced with the badge of the company
		Hudson's Bay Company	A red Ensign with a monogram of the company's initials

See also

• British flags
• Flags of the British overseas territories

Outside links

• The Flag Institute
• World Flag Database
• Royal.gov.uk- The Union Flag