Talk:Flag of California

California's civil and state flag as a state "ensign"

I think it is incorrect to include the symbol for a state government maritime ensign () for the flag description. I support making it the same civil and state flag symbol () used for other states. Firstly, the current California State Guard (not National Guard) Maritime Component (MARCOM) flies the US flag as their boat ensign. They do not fly the state flag. Regarding the two sources, the second source, Tom Gregory (1912) is clearly using the term "ensign" as a synonym for flag. The word is only mentioned once in the title and not in the body of the article, nor is any maritime use mentioned. The first source, an article by Mark J. Denger, is undated, but clearly quite old. The first use of "ensign" is once again merely a synonym for flag. He says "Adopted in 1911 as the state's official ensign, the state's flag was first flown on the battlefields of Europe during World War I", which is clearly describing a land flag and not a state maritime ensign. It is military and not state government usage as well. He goes on to talk about the "Naval Battalion" and the later "Naval Militia" of the "National Guard" (not State Guard). He equates the Naval Militia "like its counterparts of the National Guard...." Again, not the State Guard. He then describes a flag from the 1890s for the Naval Battalion which is clearly not the state flag: "The flag designed for the Naval Battalion is six feet fly, by four feet six inches hoist; a blue field with crossed foul anchors, surrounded by thirteen stars; the stars to be arranged in an oval form; anchors and stars to be of white material." Moving to the later, but now defunct Naval Militia, he says "Unlike the flag of the state's early Naval Battalion, which was of state design, the flag of the Naval Militia was imposed upon the state by Department of the Navy. The flag of the Naval Militia is described as consisting of a blue field with a yellow diamond imposed thereon. Centered upon the yellow diamond is the (blue) foul anchor of the navy." He then shows pictures of three blue and yellow flags, including the "Naval Militia Flag", which is not the California state flag. The current Maritime Component of the California State Guard does not fly the California state flag as its boat ensign. It has no official ensign other than the US flag. Only the US Coast Guard has its own ensign, and it is flown in a secondary position to the national ensign, the US flag. In addition, there is no source that says that any California state government boats fly the state flag as their ensign instead of the customary US flag. — ★Parsa ☞ talk 17:58, 11 February 2026 (UTC)