Each week, we offer you a question about the boat license. To validate your knowledge or to discover unexplored areas. This week, we will deal with a question about flags.
Q for Quarantine
The yellow flag, the letter Q in the visual alphabet, must be flown when the boat enters the territorial waters of a foreign state outside the European Union. This flag is flown in the port spreaders. It indicates that the boat is approaching the country and requests the right to enter the waters of the host country. It also shows that you are going to take the steps to complete the entry formalities with customs and immigration. Moreover, once these formalities are behind you, you can stay in the country without boarding this "Q" flag, even by changing anchorage.
Note that this "Q" flag is sent on the port side, while the courtesy flag, i.e. the national flag of the country visited, should be worn on the starboard side. Although some countries do not attach too much importance to it, it is strongly advised to hoist it to avoid being suspected of smuggling and trafficking.
For the culture, the flag "Q" was chosen in memory of the time when ships remained in Quarantine when they arrived from distant countries, to avoid bringing in contagious diseases.
