The Common Yacht Ensign (Denmark)

• The national flag can be flown by all Danish pleasure craft without special permission.
• The yacht flag (the split flag) is the Danish naval flag with the letters "YF" in gold in the upper square. The colour is dark red with a white cross. According to the proclamation of the Ministry of State´s on 11 October 1957 on the use of yacht flags, this yacht flag can be used by such Danish fulldeck craft (halfdeck craft) as are intended for pleasure use only (...) According to the Ministry of Justice (1979) the yacht flag can not be used on land.
• Several Royal resolutions between 1873 and 1899 give specific sail clubs and row clubs permission to display special distinguishing marks in the upper square of the flag.

General Yacht Ensign (no specific Club)

"Y.F." in yellow in canton of the state ensign, approved by royal resolution of 15 August 1865.
The state flag with yellow letters "Y.F." in the canton. "Y.F." stands for Yacht Union in Danish. This is the "generic" Yacht Ensign, to be used by yacht clubs that are not granted any other special flag. This is also a civil flag, so bright red field seems to be in order.
Željko Heimer, 26 May 2004

On a visit to Denmark I saw quite a lot of Yacht Flags. Variations include, the size of the "Y.F.", from so modest its height is not a quarter of the height of the first quarter to so bold a spanning rectangle would take more than half the surface of that first quarter, letters in gold-paint and letters in bright yellow, letters and dots outlined in black (!), and flag colours from bright red to almost violet. Unfortunately I didn´t manage to speak to owners of the latter colour of flag to ask whether it was meant to be Navy-red, and if so, why. Unfortunate, since these were the only flags that were noticeably darker.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 Aug 2001

The Danish Yacht-Flag (the only splitflag allowed to be flown by civilians) should have the colour code U193 (called Royal-red or Commander-red in Denmark) apart from the national flag "Dannebrog", which is U185 (a lighter red).
Kenneth Ley Milling, 24 July 2006

Usually state institutions use split flags, some with a special mark, while the rectangular flag, called the stutflag, is used by non-governmental institutions and individuals.
There is no comprehensive, modern legislation on flagging in Denmark. Flagging is administered by Royal Decree from 11 July 1748, which is still applicable law in Denmark. It distinguishes between the merchant flag and the naval flag, which is still the official designations for the stucco and split flags, respectively. The merchant flag was to be carried by merchant ships, while the warship flag was to be carried by warships. Flagging was first and foremost a sea host´s enterprise at the time.
In 1854 the law was supplemented by provisions on the use of the flag ashore. A 1915 order on the use of foreign flags complements this provision, but otherwise flagging in Denmark is characterised by strong emotions, weak consistency and almost as many exceptions as rules.
Over the years, several private companies, associations and foundations have been allowed to fly split flags – some even use it without permission – while public institutions such as the municipalities or folkekirken usually fly stutflags.
It is now as before only the regent, who can grant dispensation from the Regulation of 11 July 1748. In 1865 a certain Mr. Prior, a wholesaler, applied for royal permission to fly a special flag on a leisure boat, he had acquired for a voyage to the Mediterranean. He wanted, on the one hand, to avoid the port charges levied on merchant ships. On the other hand, it was not a naval vessel either, but there was the peculiarity of the ship that it had belonged to King Frederik VII. It was the Ministry of the Navy, which came up with the solution with the draft of the special yacht flag, which Prior then used with royal permission.
The permit in 1865 was granted to Prior personally, as there were not many leisure boats in Denmark, but enough for the question of their flagging to be raised, so that in 1866 all other leisure boats received the same permission as Prior. In 1867, a law on ship registration was adopted, which was a prerequisite for flying the Danish flag, and a subsequent order specified the conditions, under which yachtsmen could fly the special yacht flag. At the request of the owner permission was granted, the fee had been 48 shillings. This fee was abolished in, when all Danish leisure boats were allowed to hoist a split flag with the letters "Y.F." in yellow in the upper square closest to the pole, the so-called yacht flag by Order of the Prime Minister from 11 October 1957.
In 1873, the Danish Association for Yachting – later renamed to Royal Danish Yacht Club – received its own flag with a split, followed by several rowing and sailing clubs across the country. You have to be a member of these clubs or associations, in order to fly their special flag, but any Danish half- or full-speed boat, which is not used for warfare or any commercial activity therefore has the right to fly the common yacht flag (Danish: det almindelige yachtflag); a right, which in 2016 celebrates its 150th anniversary.
Source: Jes Fabricius Miller: "Why are leisure boats using split flags?" (in Christian Dagblad, a newspaper 10 July 2015).
Conclusions:
1) The article says that the version with the letters closest to the pole was explicitly mentioned by the order from 1957, but it doesn´t reveal, whether a design with letters centred in the canton was in use before.
2) The flag is granted to individuals, not to clubs.
Source: this webpage
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 9 Mar 2021

General Yacht Ensign (reported 1939)

Flaggenbuch (1939) shows a flag (see image above) similar to that in Album des Pavillons (2000) (see image at top), but the letters are larger and centred in the canton. Unless the two are equally valid variations, otherwise I tend to believe it the Album des Pavillons (2000) version a bit more to the Flaggenbuch. Surely, we need more data.
Željko Heimer, 2 June 2004

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