Flags
Flag etiquette on Barges is not quite as strict as that on sailing boats. For example on Anja, Dutch registered, we started correctly flying the French flag in front and the Dutch one on the stern. So many people came up to speak to us in Dutch that we took advice and replaced the Dutch flag with an Aussie one. Charterers seem to bring their own flag with them, and so far this year, as well as the numerous French, Dutch, British, Swiss, German and rare but welcome Austrailian flags, we have identified a Slovak flag, one from Cuba and to arouse our curiosity, two boats travelling together flying the flag of the Confederate States of America.
Never, ever would anyone do these things on a yacht and country officials have been known to get angry about the size and quality of flags displayed on visitors' yachts or motor crtuisers.
On Pastime we carry the excellent little "Book of Flags" by Alfred Znamierowski so that we can satisfy our curiousity when we see an unfamiliar flag. We tried to buy a second copy for Anja but it is already out of print, but our searches unearthed a copy on Amazon of Znamierowski's "The World Encyclopedia of Flags" second hand but unused for $1. Postage cost more than the book.
We have only seen one flag that we could not identify.
David went and spoke toi the owner who was Swiss and did not speak any English. What we discovered was that the flag was one he made himself by joining parts of the Swiss, German and French flags because "Switzerland is a small country, taking parts of its culture from the surrounding countries".
Best regards,
Penny and Dave
