Last modified: 2019-06-04 by rob raeside
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A Blue Ensign defaced by an hour glass in the hand of Old Father Time, being
shattered by an electrical discharge, was granted to the cable-laying ships of
the General Post Office in the 19th century. In his presentation on Mail Flags
to the 15th ICV, Zurich, 1993, Emil Dreyer gave a date of 26 April 1884 (the
same date as the introduction of the Royal Mail pennant) quoting William
Crampton's Flag Institute Dictionary of Terminology and Technology in FlagFax
Supplement (Series E, No.3) in Flagmaster 066/67.
1969. The General Post Office, a government department became a government owned
public corporation and was separated into two divisions, Posts and Telecoms. The
cable ships went to Telecoms.
1981. Telecoms was privatised as British Telecoms.
1994. The cable ships were sold to Cable & Wireless.
1999. The marine division of Cable & Wireless was sold to Global Crossing Inc
and became part of Global Marine Systems Ltd. cable
ships. Only those ships that were originally owned by British Telecoms, CS's
Sovereign, Iris and Monarch, are permitted to wear the defaced Blue Ensign. All
other British registered GMS ships wear the Red Ensign.
David Prothero, 24 September 2004