First recorded in 1875–80
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was believed to have been the last surviving British marine to see the Royal Navy’s white ensign raised over Sword Beach as allied forces advanced.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2022
Looking back, the two figures on watch were silhouetted by the glow of the white ensign flapping in the wind and a flashing orange beacon.
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2015
The aircraft carrier's Commanding Officer Captain Jerry Kyd will also give a speech and present the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth with a ship's white ensign.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2011
A fleet of 1,350 vessels, including 42 battleships and battle cruisers, flew the service's white ensign.
From Time Magazine Archive
In a moment the stranger showed the stars and stripes, and then the "Alabama" ran up the white ensign of the Confederacy, and fired a blank cartridge.
From The Naval History of the United States Volume 2 by Jackson, W. C.
For the first time she'll raise the White Ensign - officially becoming a Royal Navy Warship.
From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2017
The monarch will board her namesake ship in Portsmouth to see the Royal Navy White Ensign raised on the vessel for the first time.
From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2017
The commander of the operation has sent the following message: ''Be pleased to inform Her Majesty that the White Ensign flies alongside the Union Jack in South Georgia.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 19, 2014
The commander of the operation has sent the following message: “Be pleased to inform Her Majesty that the White Ensign flies alongside the Union Jack in South Georgia. God save the Queen.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 19, 2014
The visit to the Queen Elizabeth left one thinking of the service the Red Triangle has been able to render to the White Ensign.
From The Romance of the Red Triangle The story of the coming of the red triangle and the service rendered by the Y.M.C.A. to the sailors and soldiers of the British Empire by Yapp, Arthur Keysall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
