The Inglefield clip is a clip for joining a flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...

 or ensign

Ensign

An ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...

 quickly, easily and securely to flag halyard

Halyard

In sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line that is used to hoist a sail, a flag or a yard. The term halyard comes from the phrase, 'to haul yards'...

s so that the flag can be hoisted. They are also used for jib sheets on small boats and on paragliders.

Each clip resembles a link of chain, with a split through one side. The edges of this split are chamfer

Chamfer

A chamfer is a beveled edge connecting two surfaces. If the surfaces are at right angles, the chamfer will typically be symmetrical at 45 degrees. A fillet is the rounding off of an interior corner. A rounding of an exterior corner is called a "round" or a "radius"."Chamfer" is a term commonly...

ed, so that the clips can be engaged or disengaged, but only if they are carefully aligned by hand. When pulled tight, the links are securely fastened. There are no moving parts (to the link at least, some have additional swivels).

They can be made of any durable material; commonly brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

, bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

, stainless steel

Stainless steel

In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....

 or plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

. The clips come in two basic types: 'standard' with the halyard attached directly to the clip, and 'swivel' which incorporates a rotational connector so that the halyard can rotate without affecting the flag. In the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 a flag or ensign normally has both types of clip, one at each end of the heading. Some flags have the top clip sewn directly onto the heading rather than a rope running through it. This allows these flags to be flown 'tight-up' against the top of the mast, gaff or yard arm.

History

Lieutenant Edward Fitzmaurice Inglefield

Edward Fitzmaurice Inglefield

Rear Admiral Sir Edward Fitzmaurice Inglefield, KBE was a Victorian Royal Navy officer and later secretary of Lloyd's of London...

, who later became Rear Admiral Sir Edward Inglefield KBE, invented these clips for attaching signalling flags whilst serving on HMS Melita

HMS Melita (1888)

HMS Melita was a Royal Navy Mariner-class composite screw gunvessel of 8 guns. She was the only Royal Navy warship ever to be built in Malta, hence the name, which is the Latin name for the island. She was renamed HMS Ringdove in 1915 and sold as a salvage vessel to Falmouth Docks Board in 1920,...

 in the early 1890s. The first set of prototype clips was made up in the Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 Dockyard and by 1895 Inglefield clips were standard issue to the British Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

.http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/melitahistoricac/19987.html%23_ftn20&date=2009-10-26+02:29:49 which gives the reference: MARINER’S MIRROR. The Journal of Nautical Research. Vol. 26.