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Naval ensign

The Australian white ensign (also known as the Australian naval ensign or the Royal Australian Navy ensign) is a naval ensign used by ships of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1967 onwards. From the formation of the RAN until 1967, Australian warships used the British white ensign as their ensign. However, this led to situations where Australian vessels were mistaken for British ships, and when Australia became involved in the Vietnam War, the RAN was effectively fighting under the flag of another, uninvolved nation. Proposals were made in 1965 for a unique Australian ensign, which was approved in 1966, and entered use in 1967. The Australian white ensign is identical in design to the Australian national flag, but with the reversal of the blue background and the white Commonwealth Star and Southern Cross.

Before Australia's Federation, the Colonial navies flew the British Blue Ensign, defaced with the symbol of the relevant colony. During the early 1900s, several British dominions, including Australia, began to campaign for the right to create naval forces independent of the Royal Navy, and capable of deploying outside territorial waters. Suggested Australian ensigns included the British ensign defaced with a blue Commonwealth Star, or a variant of the Australian national flag. Australian warships used the national flag as an ensign until the formal creation of the RAN from the Commonwealth Naval Forces on 10 July 1911: ships were ordered to fly the British ensign, while the Australian flag was used as a jack to identify their nationality. Australian warships regularly found themselves mistaken for their British counterparts. One attempt to alleviate this was made by the executive officer of during the Korean War, when he had a kangaroo shaped 'weathervane' made and mounted to the destroyer's mainmast: this became the basis for the red kangaroo symbol fixed to the funnels or superstructure of major RAN vessels. Australia's participation in the Vietnam War put the RAN in a difficult situation: the United Kingdom was not involved in the conflict, and RAN ships were effectively fighting under the flag of another, uninvolved nation. During a Naval Estimates hearing in 1965, Victorian politician Samuel Benson voiced concern over the use of the British ensign by Australian ships on wartime deployments, and Don Chipp, Minister for the Navy, announced that an Australian ensign was under consideration. McNicoll was in favour of retaining the Union flag, and in January 1966, the Naval Board recommended that the second design for the new ensign. However, the frigate was the first to use the ensign, when the ship's company unofficially flew the flag on 25 December 1966 as part of shipboard Christmas Day celebrations while deployed to the Far East Strategic Reserve.

The flag is white, with the Union flag in the canton. The sail training ship Young Endeavour as a non commissioned ship in Naval service wears the AWE. The Blue Ensign of the Australian Navy Cadets uses the Australian White Ensign in the canton.

During battle, commissioned ships of the RAN will fly a large Australian white ensign at the foremast of single masted ships, and at the mainmast of two masted ships.