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Pakistan - ensigns

Naval Ensign
Civil Ensign
Maritime Security Agency
Masthead Pennant
Air Forces Ensign
Civil Air Ensign

Naval Ensign

1:2, by Zeljko Heimer

The national flag in ratio 1:2. Regarding the construction, there is of course, the question on how this one is constructed. There are basically two main approaches:
(a) retain all the construction elements as prescribed and only change the starting ratio from 2:3, to 1:2
(b) reformat the "finished" 2:3 by only reformatting the rectangular fields.

Solution (a) may be more "orthodox"; it retains the horns and star to point towards the fly top corner, however, that would make the emblem change the "rotation" from vertical axis, and would make it's dimensions different. Solution (b), on the other hand, retains the known emblem and its "rotation". Anyway, if one tries to follow solution (a), one gets the crescent whose white areas is larger then the half the full circle, so if there is a special construction of this ensign, the inner crescent circle must be modified (by either moving its center to some other point, or by changing the diameter). However, there is a third solution (c): modification of the fields as in (b) and then rotation of the emblem as a whole so the star points to fly top. I believe that (b) is the simplest solution and is probably followed (and that
few people in Pakistan worry about this problem as much as I do here), and it is anyway as it is pictured in Album des Pavillons (2000).

For those really interested in these possibilities, you can view the solution (a) and solution (c).
Zeljko Heimer, 8 September 2002

Civil Ensign

2:3, by Zeljko Heimer

Red ensign with the national flag in the canton. Smith (1982) denotes this ensign as civil and state ensign. Do the state ships carry it too? If so, this must be an error in Album des Pavillons (2000).
Zeljko Heimer, 8 September 2002

Jack

2:3, by Zeljko Heimer

Blue flag with the white emblem of the Navy of Pakistan. The emblem consists of a shield shape charged with a fouled anchor and topped with a crescent and star (pointing up), below is a ribbon inscribed PAKISTAN. The emblem is similar to the one used by the Indian Navy. The Navy of Bangladesh uses a bit different but still related emblem, too. Was there a pre-independence naval emblem to which all of the three are related?
Zeljko Heimer, 8 September 2002

Maritime Security Agency

2:3, by Zeljko Heimer

Blue flag with red-blue-white border along the three edges and the MSA emblem in the middle. The emblem is circular, bearing the name of the Agency in a blue ring encircling a vertically divided disk of blue, red and white. In the red part there is a white anchor combined with the initials MSA. Below the disk there is a white bordered blue ribbon bearing the name PAKISTAN, and above are an up-pointing crescent and star, somewhat different than in the naval emblem. The anchor is similar to the British admiralty anchor with the rope curling from once side to the other.
This flag is, I presume, not used as an ensign, but rather as an additional flag signal on MSA vessels (maybe on the mainmast) and the ordinary ensign is used at stern. If Smith (1982) is correct, that would be the red ensign.
Zeljko Heimer, 8 September 2002

Masthead Pennant

1:20, by Zeljko Heimer

Long triangular pennant with a white panel at hoist and green fly.
Zeljko Heimer, 8 September 2002

Air Forces Ensign

by Mark Sensen 22 June 1997

In Pedersen (1980) there is the air force flag: light blue, the national flag in the canton, the air force roundel in the fly.
Mark Sensen, 22 June 1997

Civil Air Ensign

by Calvin Paige Herring

The Civil Air Ensign of Pakistan is similar to other former British colonies that have adopted British forms of flag use. If I am not mistaken, the designer or designers of the new Pakistani Civil Air Ensign knew a bit about vexillology because they did not adopt a cross version. Instead, the vertical blue and white bars were left probably because such a Christian symbol, the cross, would be inappropriate for an Islamic country.

Calvin Paige Herring, 17 February 1998

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