Naval ensign
Appearance
A naval ensign is a flag used by warships to show which country they belong to. Sometimes a naval ensign is called a war ensign.
![A flag waving in the wind. The flag is on a ship. The flag is white and has a red cross on it. There is a British flag in the top left of the flag.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Gdynia_HMS_Bulwark_bandera.jpg/220px-Gdynia_HMS_Bulwark_bandera.jpg)
A naval ensign flies from the back of a ship. Some countries use their national flags on warships as their naval ensigns. The United States is an example of a country that uses its national flag instead of a naval ensign. Some other countries have a special naval ensign different to its national flag. Britain is an example of a country which uses a special naval ensign different to its national flag.