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Ensigns (Brunei)

War Ensign
War Ensign c.1984 until late 1990's
Customs Ensign
Reported State Ensign, probably non-existent

See also:

Royal Brunei Police (Polis Diraja Brunei)
Brunei

War Ensign

1:2 image by Željko Heimer
Flag adopted late-1990's

Album des Pavillons 2000, page BR 2.1, shows the Naval Ensign as a white (crossless) ensign with the war flag in canton. The flag in canton is elongated to ratio 1:2 though, to cover up the entire canton quarter. Now, the crossless flag is a new one (adopted when?) replacing the version with thin blue cross and 2:3 ratio, shown in several sources (Smith 1980, Album des Pavillons 1995, Shipmate chart). The same flag with cross is mentioned in Crampton 1990, but there the cross is described red. However, I know of no other sources mentioning such flag, so maybe the latter is an error?

Željko Heimer, 30 March 2001

War Ensign c.1984 until late 1990's

2:3 image by Calvin Paige Herring
Flag adopted c.1984

White, blue cross, yellow canton with three diagonal stripes (white, red, black) and Navy's emblem in the center.

Jan Zrzavy, 16 January 1998

What color is the cross on the naval ensign of Brunei? Whitney Smith shows the flag as having a blue cross while the late William Crampton says that the cross is red. The Crampton book [Crampton 1990f?] is later in time (by about 9 or 10 years) so I am apt to believe that the flag may have been changed in color.

Calvin Paige Herring, 25 March 1998

According to the Album des Pavillons 1990, which is usually 'up to date', the cross is blue.

Ivan Sache, 30 March 1998

The naval ensign of Brunei takes the military flag and places it in the canton of a white flag with a narrow blue cross (about 1/13th of the width of the flag). It has a 2:3 proportion, different from the national flag's proportion of 1:2. Sources: Smith 1980, Crampton 1989.

Calvin Paige Herring, 1 April 1998

Reported War Ensign with red cross, possibly mistaken
2:3 image by Željko Heimer

Customs Ensign

1:2 image by Željko Heimer

Album des Pavillons 2000, page BR 2.1, shows the Customs Ensign as a blue 1:2 flag with the Royal Customs and Excise Department badge in the middle. The badge consist of a white portcullis on blue, to left and right their chains on green fields, the base black with white ribbon in chief yellow with orange (?) ribbon under which is the state emblem within a red wreath with red ribbon. All on a white field encircled with red line. The emblem can be seen at the Royal Customs and Excise Department website. According to the usage symbol in Album des Pavillons 2000, this ensign is hoisted by the customs boats (ships?) instead of the national flag.

Željko Heimer, 30 March 2001

The correction no. 1 to Album des Pavillons 2000, page BR 2.1, (...) corrects the flag use FIAV grid, adding a dot for state flag.

Ivan Sache, 8 October 2001

Reported State Ensign, probably non-existent

1:2 image by Željko Heimer and Gvido Petersons

Crampton 1989 has reported a government ensign that is the same as the national flag but with blue sections substituting for the yellow.

Calvin Paige Herring, 1 April 1998

How old is this flag? Calvin Paige Herring gives as sources Smith 1980 and Crampton 1989, but I know for sure that Smith 1980 does not have this flag. Crampton 1990 does, so it must have been adopted in mid-80's. As a side note, the British ensign system influence is noticeable, but also it seem to have been long tradition in that part of the world to use similarly designed flags of different colours for different functions.

Željko Heimer, 30 March 2001

The correction no. 1 to Album des Pavillons 2000, page BR 2.1, (...) omits the State ensign for Brunei, previously shown in the original edition.

Ivan Sache, 8 October 2001

The source for that former Brunei state ensign was an ancient report of William Crampton. Since then Michel Lupant went to Brunei, inquired, and reported to me he had seen a Police and a Customs Ensign, and no 'Crampton'-like ensign. Consequently on his advise I suppressed it.

Armand Noel du Payrat (editor of Album des Pavillons 2000), 18 October 2001

Does that mean that the Brunei 'governmental ensign' did never exist?

Santiago Dotor, 18 October 2001