Civil Flag vs Merchant Ensign[]
Nice designs, but what serves the civil flag for as opposed to the merchant ensign? Is it a flag to be used by the public? Winfried 18:33, 6 July 2008 (UTC)
Wikipedia says: "A civil flag is a version of the national flag that is flown by civilians on non-government installations or craft. The use of civil flags was more common in the past, in order to denote buildings or ships that were not manned by the military.
In some countries the civil flag is the same as the war flag or state flag, but without the coat of arms, such as in the case of Spain, and in others it is an alteration of the war flag. In Scandinavia, state and war flags can be double and triple-tailed variants of the Nordic Cross flag. Many countries, particularly those with a British heritage, still have distinctive civil flags (technically civil ensigns) for use at sea, many based on the British Red ensign."
In the case of the Lyson Empire, the civil flag would be used on non-government installations and buildings, like people's private homes and private vessels not belonging to the merchant navy. Thomas X 10:59, 8 July 2008 (GMT+1)