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Honfleur (Municipality, Cavados, France): Naval Museum

Presentation of the Museum
Unidentified house flag
Regimental flags in the battle of Louisburg (1758)

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Presentation of the Museum

The Naval Museum of Honfleur has been established in the former St. Etienne's church, built on the Old Basin. Among the collections exhibited in the Museum, two paintings of vexillological interest are described below.

Ivan Sache, 26 October 2003

Unidentified house flag

by Ivan Sache

A painting shows the arrival of the three-master La Victorine, from Le Havre, in the port of Dunkirk on 1 July 1853.

The ship flies the French Tricolore, a registration flag, and a house flag.

The registration flag is forked, horizontally divided blue-white-blue-white, and is the flag for the arrondissement (maritime adminstrative division) of Cherbourg, northern part (from Dunkerque to Honfleur).

The house flag is red with the letters A.M. in yellow. These letters are probably the initials of the ship owner, but I have not been able to find more information on him.

Ivan Sache, 26 October 2003

Regimental flags in the battle of Louisbourg (1758)

Another big painting, displayed near the entrance of the Museum, shows the seizure of Louisbourg (Cape Breton, Canada) by the Brits in 1758. The painting was made in a fairly naive style, but its unknown author was most probably an eyewitness of the battle.

The British forces on land fly the Union Jack, whereas the warships fly the White Ensign. A tower, probably a command post, flies the Blue Ensign.

The French forces on land and at sea fly the plain white flag. On land, each group of French forces flies a flag, either the plan white flag or a blue and white flag,

by Ivan Sache

- forked, horizontally divided white-blue (shown two times on the painting);

by Ivan Sache

- rectangular, horizontally divided blue-white-blue;

by Ivan Sache

- rectangular, divided per saltire, blue-white-blue-white;

by Ivan Sache

- chequy white and blue.