Last modified: 2003-05-31 by santiago dotor
Keywords: palestine | high commissioner | police | customs | postal | blue ensign | canton: union flag | disc (white): badge | union flag | garland | crown: royal |
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![[Union Flag (British Mandate of Palestine)]](../images/g/gb.gif)
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by Graham Bartram
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The Union Flag was probably the most common and notable flag in Palestine from 1922 to 1948. There probably would have been little official use for the Palestine Ensign, and since it represented neither Jewish nor Arab interests and aspirations nobody else would have had any use for it — not to mention that the badge was one of the least imaginative of the Empire.
The mandate was originally organised jointly as Palestine and Transjordan in April 1920 (approved by the League in July 1922) under the terms of the Balfour Declaration, except that provisions for a Jewish national home did not apply to Transjordania. Transjordania was separated as an autonomous state in May 1923, and had been ruled somewhat as such since April 1921 by Emir Abdullah ibn Hussein (one of the sons of the sherif of Mecca of Arab Revolt fame). The separation was chiefly designed to spare Transjordan any of the complications of the emerging Jewish nationalist problem, to clarify that a Jewish homeland did not apply to the latter.
Todd Mills, 3 November 1996
The maritime flags of the British mandate, as recorded in two Admiralty files in the Public Record Office (ADM 1/8771/162 and ADM 1/21248) were:
David Prothero, 16 February 1999
The sequence of flags was:
David Prothero, 18 August 2000
I have a bit of old news-reel on video-tape that shows the flag of the Palestine High Commissioner when the British mandate ended in 1948. It has the usual white disc in the centre of the Union Flag, but the badge differs slightly from any illustration that I have seen. There is a gap at the top of the laurel-leaf garland; the crown is smaller and set at the top of the disc, between the two ends of the garland; and the lettering has been adjusted to take advantage of the extra space made available by the smaller crown. This flag should have been flown only when the High Commissioner was afloat. The Union Flag would have been the usual flag on land.
David Prothero, 16 February 1999
The badge on the Union Flag of the High Commissioner was an improvement on the badge on the ensigns. The lettering was more elaborate and surmounted by a crown, as well as being surrounded by the usual laurel-leaf garland. The shape of the crown was unusual for a British flag. I would be interested if anyone can tell me what crown it is and what it might represent. (...) I would be interested if anyone can identify the style of the crown which is not a Tudor/Imperial crown and unlike any other that I have seen. It is similar to that of Henry VII (1485) as drawn in Neubecker 1977 page 171.
David Prothero, 17 October 1999 and 18 August 2000
Nozomi Kariyasu's scan of the Palestine High Commissioner's badge is the official design which would have been surrounded by the standard green laurel leaf garland on a Union Flag. Approved by High Commissioner 17th July 1935, published as part of 1936 amendment (No.5) to 1930 edition of Admiralty Flag Book, discontinued 15th May 1948. The badge that was actually in use in 1948 was more like this scan. This is a reconstruction based on the flag flown on the High Commissioner's launch as shown in a black and white news-reel. The garland should be thicker than in the drawing, I presume that it would have been green, and the crown yellow.
David Prothero, 15 March 2001
I checked the Palestine Gazette of 1929 and found the following in the March 15, 1929 issue:
Customs Ordinance, no. 11 of 1929, signed by the High Commissioner on 15.3.1929. Section 7: "The vessels employed in the service of the Customs shall be distinguished from other vessels by such a flag as shall be described".In the same issue there are regulations for the Customs Ordinance and among them there is one concerning the Customs flag: The Customs flag shall be the blue ensign defaced by a white circle with the words "Palestine Customs" (no illustration).
Nahum Shereshevsky, 30 June 1997
In 1926 the Customs Service asked for an ensign to identify their launches. Admiralty agreed that they should fly a Blue Ensign defaced 'PALESTINE CUSTOMS'. Adopted 27 July 1926.
David Prothero, 9 September 2001
The Palestine Blue Ensign was flown by the Postal Service launches and by vessels of the Customs and Excise and Trade Department.
David Prothero, 17 October 1999
There was also a blue ensign. Flaggenbuch 1939 shows only the badge and the red ensign, but the badge caption says, "Abzeichen in der blauen und roten Flagge von Palästina" that is "badge of the blue and red ensigns of Palestine".
Ivan Sache, 17 August 2000
On 23 May 1929 the Colonial Secretary wrote to the High Commissioner Palestine about the use of the Blue Ensign defaced 'PALESTINE CUSTOMS', by Customs, Excise and Trade Department. He suggested that now that the Admiralty had authorised use of the Red Ensign defaced 'PALESTINE' it was considered more in keeping with Colonial Regulation No.142 to have 'PALESTINE' alone in a white disc on the Blue Ensign for Customs and for Posts. In order to distinguish mail carrying vessels the jack should carry the word 'POST' or 'CUSTOMS'. Public Record Office document ADM 1/8771/162.
David Prothero, 9 September 2001
I guess we are talking about two different sets of documents. You are referring to British documents while I am referring to local Mandate legislation. One should remember that since it was a Mandate and not part of the British Empire, those British documents had to be included in local legislation in order to be enforcable. The Customs Ordenance of 1929 probably replaced previous Turkish legislation.
Dov Gutterman, 9 September 2001
Also in use in government service was a square Blue Ensign defaced with the word 'CUSTOMS', used as a jack by Customs, Excise and Trade. Authorised 2nd May 1929. I would be interested if anyone can tell me exactly what this defacement looked like.
David Prothero, 26 June 1997
The Israel customs flag and jack is a replacement to the British Mandate Customs jack. (...) The Mandate era Customs flag was prescribed in the Customs Rules of 15 March 1929 as follows:
Custom Flag (rules dated 13 September 1930)Both flags were adopted 13 September 1930 and abolished 14 May 1948 by the Israeli customs flag.
2. (1) The flag to be flown on customs house and vessels in the service of the Customs, shall be the blue ensign defaced by the word 'PALESTINE' within a white disc.
2. (2) In addition to the Blue Ensign hoisted on the vessel's aft, vessels in the service of the Customs will fly also a flag on the top of the vessel in the shape of square blue flag with the symbol of the British flag on the top close to the hoist and the word 'CUSTOMS' written in the end of the flag.
Dov Gutterman, 5 and 8 September 2001
Also in use in government service was (...) a square Blue Ensign defaced with the word 'POSTS' used [as a jack] by the Postal Service. Authorised 2nd May 1929. I would be interested if anyone can tell me exactly what this defacement looked like.
David Prothero, 26 June 1997
I checked the Palestine Gazette of 1929 and found (...) nothing about the Postal Service, but the P.O. was established long before that year, so it may be mentioned in a similar manner [to the Customs ensign] in the Palestine Gazette of the relevant year. The Jerusalem City Archive's collection of the Palestine Gazzette is not complete, if I have a chance I will check at the National Library.
Nahum Shereshevsky, 30 June 1997
On 25 March 1929 the Post Master General, Palestine requested authorisation for postal vessels to fly a Blue Ensign defaced with 'POSTS' on a white circle. This was refused but on 2nd May NL1284/29 authorised the use of a square blue jack having a Union canton and defaced 'POSTS' in the fly.
David Prothero, 9 September 2001
There was a Colonial Office letter dated 13th October 1932 urging the adoption of a defaced Blue Ensign for the Palestine Police, but there was no indication that this was ever done.
David Prothero, 26 June 1997
There was a proposal to put "P" on a white disc on the Union Flag for Palestine Police Frontier Posts, but as far as I know it was never implemented.
David Prothero, 15 February 1999
In 1932 the Colonial Office proposed the adoption of a Blue Ensign defaced with the badge of the Palestine Police, emphasising that it would be particularly appropriate for the Frontier Posts of Zuweira and Ain Hosb in Beersheba, and Metullah and Khalisa in the Northern District. The approval of the Admiralty, necessary because the Blue Ensign was a maritime flag, was not forthcoming. Three possibilities were considered and the final choice was, "A plain Union [Flag], the character of the station being shown elsewhere, e.g. by an escutcheon with the Police badge over the porch."
David Prothero, 16 February 1999
The badge in National Geographic 1934 is captioned:
419. PALESTINE BADGE - The badge of Palestine heretofore consisted of a plain white circle upon which occurred the word "Palestine". Since this plate went to press, a new badge has been adopted which shows a castle set on a hill.
Dave Martucci, 1996 and Jarig Bakker, 16 August 2000
I checked [the Palestine Gazette of] 1934 for the Badge of Palestine — it was supposed to be changed then from a white circle with "Palestine" to a representation of the Old City of Jerusalem. I didn't find anything. I talked to another old-timer and showed him the pictures of the High Commissioner flags (Union Flag with those badges in the centre). He didn't recognize the "city" one, but did recognize the "Palestine" one as the flag on the High Commissioner's car. He said that he came to Palestine in 1938 and he remembers seeing that flag used until the end of the Mandate. So I think that we can definitely say that whether or not the "city" badge was authorized, it was never used.
Nahum Shereshevsky, 30 June 1997
The [castle on hill] badge was drawn or described in newspapers, magazines and books, but never used on a flag.
In 1932 the Palestine High Commissioner decided that he wanted to undertake some coastal journeys by boat, but did not consider the badge used on the Blue and Red Ensigns suitable as a defacement for the Union Flag. He wrote to the Colonial Office suggesting something similar to the badges of the Western Pacific or South Africa High Commissioners, who had badges with an imperial crown and appropriate initials. Colonial Office agreed that the badge on the Ensigns was, "repellent", and considered, a crown with 'PALESTINE' above and 'HC' below, but concluded that the Foreign Office would probably not agree to a badge which featured a crown. It was finally decided that the 1923 Seal, "... if simplified, could be used as badge and would indicate the authority of the High Commissioner without implying the status of Palestine."
The Seal had been designed by the Royal Mint for the Government of Palestine. It was a representation of a hill-top city with a wall around the base of the hill. The picture was surrounded by a circular border with Government of Palestine written at the top, a Hebrew inscription in the lower left and an Arabic inscription in the lower right.
A badge based upon the Seal was designed by George Kruger-Gray and approved by the High Commissioner in February 1933. The Seal had been considerably simplified. The encircling wall had been removed and a crescent at the top of a dome replaced by a pinnacle. The city and road leading to it was white, the hill yellow and the background black. The border containing the inscriptions was replaced by a yellow garland which would feature on the Union Flag, but be replaced by a plain yellow border on the Ensigns. An alternative badge based on the Arms of the Latin Kings of Jerusalem had been rejected as it consisted mainly of the Christian symbol of the Cross.
George Kruger-Gray sent a drawing of the badge to a friend who was particularly interested in heraldry and the Near East, and was editor of the Picture Page in The Times newspaper. When asked by him if it had been gazetted (scheduled for publication in the government newspaper) Gray said he did not know, but that it had been approved. The editor took this to mean that it had been gazetted and published a picture of the badge The Times on 29th August 1933.
However the Royal Mint, Colonial Office and the High Commissioner were still arguing about details of the badge.
In April 1934 the badge was amended because it had been decided that the only identifiable features were Moslem in character and would excite political criticism on the part of the Jewish Community. The city was now yellow instead of white and the garland green instead of yellow; the background still black.
Royal Mint Advisory Committee opposed the alterations but the High Commissioner thought that the badge as re-designed was similar to the seal, to which no objections had been made in ten years. However when the badge was shown to them, the Jewish Agency said that they had not been aware of the existence of the Seal and objected strongly to the badge.
The badge based on the Seal was abandoned and on 17th July 1935 the High Commissioner selected a badge similar to the Western Pacific High Commissioner badge first considered in 1932.
David Prothero, 18 August 2000
It is not a castle but an artistic way to represent Jerusalem. One can see the walls, the Omar Mosque (the Rock Dome) and the Tower of David.
Dov Gutterman, 13 March 2001
As I said this was a proposed badge, never used. Had it been used it would have looked like this scan. On the Blue Ensign and Red Ensign the yellow garland would have been replaced by a plain yellow border. An alternative proposal had a yellow city and green garland.
David Prothero, 15 March 2001
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