Coloured squadrons of the Royal Navy

Historically, the English fleet was first divided into three squadrons distinguished by colour in 1558, the Admiral of the English fleet, the Lord Admiral of England's squadron, flew a plain red flag as its ensign. The Vice-Admiral of the fleet, or Vice-Admiral of England, flew a plain blue flag, and the Rear-Admiral of the fleet flew a plain white flag. The order of precedence until May 1596 was red; blue; and white. In June 1596 the English fleet was divided into four squadrons for the expedition for the Capture of Cádiz. The fleet during this expedition had joint commanders-in-chief styled as "Joint Generalls of the Armies by Sea and Land". Naval forces were under the command of the Lord Admiral of England, Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, whose squadron was in the centre, whilst land forces were under the command of the General of the Army, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, whose squadron was also in the centre. The van squadron, or front, was commanded by the Vice Admiral of the Fleet (Vice-Admiral of England). The rear squadron (called the wyng) was commanded by the Rear-Admiral of the Fleet. After this expedition the system returned to a three squadron fleet. From 1620 until 1652 the order of precedence of the squadrons was Red, Blue and White, until 1653, when the order of precedence was changed to red, white, and blue. In 1688 the permanent rank of Admiral of the Fleet was created, replacing the Lord High Admiral England operationally as commander-in-chief. ==Squadron colours (1558–1596)==

Included: File:Flag of England.svg|Flag of the English fleet 1545–1558 File:Flag Admirals of the Red Squadron Royal Navy.png|Flag of the Red Squadron (centre) 1558–1596 File:Flag Admirals of the Blue Squadron Royal Navy.png|Flag of the Blue Squadron (van) 1558–1596 File:Flag Admirals of the White Squadron Royal Navy.png|Flag of the White Squadron (rear) 1558–1596 ==Squadron colours (1596)==

During expedition to capture Cadiz with the aid of the Dutch (in 1 squadron) in June 1596 the English fleet was divided into four squadrons which had joint commanders in chief. Naval forces were commanded by the Lord Admiral whilst land forces were commander by the General of the Army each allocated corresponding flags to differentiate them as shown below. Lord Admirals squadron (centre) Included: File:Royal Standard of England (1406-1603).svg|Flag of the Lord Admiral File:Vice and Rear Admiral command flag Lord Admirals squadron English Navy (1596).jpg|Flag of the Vice and Rear Admirals in this squadron General of the Army's squadron (centre) Included: File:Flag of England.svg|Flag of the General of the Army File:Command Flag of Vice and Rear Admirals in the General of the Army's squadron at Cadiz (1596).jpg|Flag of the Vice and Rear Admirals in this squadron Vice-Admiral of England's squadron (van/front) Included: File:Flag of England.svg|Flag of the Vice-Admiral of England File:Tudor Ensign 1485-1603.svg|Flag of the Vice and Rear Admirals in this squadron Rear-Admiral of the Fleet's squadron (wyng/rear) Included: File:Flag of England.svg|Flag of the Vice-Admiral of England File:Flag Admirals of the White Squadron Royal Navy.png|Flag of the Vice and Rear Admirals in this squadron ==Red squadron centre (1596-1864)==

Included: ==White squadron van/front (1596–1864)==

Included: File:Flag Admirals of the White Squadron Royal Navy.png|Flag of the White Squadron 1558–1595, 1596–1603 File:English White Ensign 1620.svg|Flag of the White Squadron 1620–1702 File:White Squadron Ensign 1702-1707.svg|Flag of the White Squadron 1702–1707 File:White Ensign of Great Britain (1707–1800).svg|Flag of the White Squadron 1707–1800 File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|Flag of the White Squadron 1801–1864 The white squadron, ranked second and generally placed in the van, would be commanded by the Admiral of the White, and its subdivisions would be led by a Vice Admiral of the White (van), and a Rear Admiral of the White (rear). ==Blue squadron wyng/rear (1596–1864)==

Included: File:Flag Admirals of the Blue Squadron Royal Navy.png|Flag of the Blue Squadron 1558–1596, 1596–1603 File:English Blue Ensign 1620.svg|Flag of the Blue Squadron 1620–1707 File:Blue Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg|Flag of the Blue Squadron 1707–1800 File:Government Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|Flag of the Blue Squadron 1801–1864 The blue squadron, ranked third or junior, was similarly commanded with an Admiral, Vice Admiral and Rear Admiral of the Blue, each flying a blue ensign. ==Flag officers and commodores promotion pathway within squadrons==

Promotion of Admirals also took place in this order - a Rear-Admiral of the Blue on promotion became a Rear-Admiral of the White as his first flag promotion. Once he had reached Rear-Admiral of the Red, on his next promotion he became a Vice-Admiral of the Blue and so on, until he finally became an Admiral of the White. It was only in the Red squadron that the hierarchy was not followed. There was no Admiral of the Red since this would be deemed as being in overall command of the whole fleet until the rank was introduced in 1805. Until 1862 there could only be one Admiral of the Fleet. • Rear-Admiral of the Blue became Rear-Admiral of the White as his next promotion • Rear-Admiral of the White became Rear-Admiral of the Red as his next promotion • Rear-Admiral of the Red became Vice-Admiral of the Blue as his next promotion • Vice-Admiral of the Blue became Vice-Admiral of the White as his next promotion • Vice-Admiral of the White became Vice-Admiral of the Red as his next promotion • Vice-Admiral of the Red became Admiral of the Blue as his next promotion • Admiral of the Blue became Admiral of the White as his next promotion • Admiral of the White became Admiral of the Fleet as his next promotion up to 1804, then Admiral of the Red as his next promotion (from 1805) • Admiral of the Red became Admiral of the Fleet as his next promotion (from 1805 up to 1864) ==See also==