Flags on the boat, 11 rules (that you may not know) to avoid bad figures

Boat flag.

This is a topic we often cover from a bureaucratic perspective (here, for example, we told you how to change flags in 2023
and which ones to do it with, i.e., the “trendy”ones of the moment), less so from a “seafaring” point of view.

Flag: General rules

1. The national flag must be the largest one displayed.
2. It should be hoisted at sunrise and lowered at sunset.
3. Other flags follow the hoisting and proceed the lowering.
4. The only exception is the social guidon, which is hardly ever lowered.
5. In port, the raising is determined by the port authority or the largest military ship present or of the highest rank, normally taking place at 08:00 am. Clubs, which follow tradition, can also be a reference for the flag-raising.
6. At night it should be raised at the request of a military vessel and upon entering or leaving a port, and in any case along the coast.
7. It should be hoisted on a special pole normally at the stern of boats on the starboard side of the transom
8. Putting one flag over another has meant that the one below is prey to war so it should not be used in recreation.
9. It must be undamaged and unsoiled.
10. It cannot be used as a tablecloth or in an inappropriate way.
11. When the national flag is unusable, it should not be thrown away, but burned privately.