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Royal Swedish Yacht Club

Kungliga Svenska Segelsällskapet (KSSS)

Ensigns of the association, 1832-1908
Yacht Club Burgees

See also:

Ensigns of the association, 1832-1906/08

The flags of the Kungliga Svenska Segel Sällskapet (founded 1830) are described and illustrated in [hpa30]. During the two years following its foundation, it seems the yacht club used the ordinary Swedish civil ensign with the red and white union mark. Based on the flag plates (pp. 585-587) in [hpa30], it seems that the KSSS flew four distinct flags:

1. 1832-1844

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 09 October 2014

The first yacht flag of the KSSS consisted of Swedish war ensign, swallow tailed and with the red and white union canton, defaced with the cipher of Crown Prince Oscar (later king Oscar I) on a white panel set over the intersection of the arms of the cross. The cipher consisted of the letter O and a crown princely crown.

2. 1844-1878

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 09 October 2014

When the war ensign of Sweden changed to incorporate the new union badge, the herring salad, the yacht flag of the KSSS also changed. However, the cipher remained the same as that in the first ensign.

3. 1878-1906

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 09 October 2014

In 1878 the cipher was changed to the royal cipher with a royal crown.

4. 1906-1908

4. by Jan Oskar Engene

When the union with Norway was dissolved in 1905, the effect on flags in both countries were the removal of the union badge. Consequently, the yacht flag of the KSSS also changed in this way, though the cipher remained the same. The yacht flag privilege of the KSSS lapsed with the Swedish flag act of 1906.
Jan Oskar Engene, 14 November 2001

My guess is that the post-Union ensign of the KSSS, that is with the Union badge removed, was flown adopted by the yacht club based on tradition but without legal backing - but probably only for the 1907 sailing season, when the consequences of the flag act became apparent also to the yachting community.
Jan Oskar Engene, 28 December 2001

Yacht Club Burgees

Pennant in literature
image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 09 October 2014

Pennant in photograph
image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 09 October 2014

All that to be able to report that Register of Yachts - Ensigns and burgees of yacht clubs and distinguishing flags of yachtsmen [LLo61b?] shows the Swedish flag as a special yacht club ensign for the KSSS (and that's all I'll say about that), and shows a triangular burgee. Yacht Club Burgees, Colin Stewart [ste57] and The Dumpy Pocket Book of Sailing Dinghies and Yachts [ele60], all three indicating a lighter blue colour than the standard blue (which would be the one used for British Blue Ensigns). I guess that compared to the cruising pennant, this is indeed a light blue.
I don't know when the current set of flags was introduced, but the entries in these books suggest that a different shape was used previously. I did indeed find a photograph of a similar design, but it's black and white, and it has no border along the hoist. This version is more like that in the photograph, though the type of crown is actually different, and as the picture is black and white, the colour is not certain. (Photograph is public domain.)
The KSSS can be found at http://www.ksss.se/en. As the club was founded in 1839 and first in 1878 became Royal, it may well be the original version of the burgee did not have a crown. I found no description for the burgee, either current or historical, however.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 09 October 2014