Royal Navy Funeral Traditions in the UK

What Makes a Royal Navy Funeral Different

While all British military funerals share the core committal sequence — Last Post, Exhortation, silence, Reveille or the Rouse, Kohima Epitaph — the Royal Navy has distinct traditions that set its services apart from Army and RAF funerals.

The most visible difference is the coffin drape. Where Army and RAF funerals use the Union Flag, the Royal Navy permits the use of the White Ensign — the red cross of St George on a white field with the Union Flag in the canton. This is not automatic; it must be formally requested through the Royal Naval Association (RNA) or Veterans UK.

The standard Union Flag rules still apply to drape positioning: the canton sits at the head of the coffin, over the left shoulder of the deceased. The same applies if the White Ensign is used instead.

Piping the Side

A tradition unique to the Royal Navy is Piping the Side — the use of a Boatswain's Call (a small metal whistle) to pipe the deceased aboard or ashore, mirroring the historic practice of piping senior officers as they boarded a ship.

The Boatswain's Call sounds at two key moments:

• As the coffin enters the venue (piping aboard)
• As the coffin leaves or is committed (piping ashore, followed by "Carry On")

Not every Royal Navy funeral includes piping. It depends on the availability of someone who can pipe correctly — the call has a specific technique and pitch that requires practice. The RNA can sometimes help source a piper from their local branch.

Burial at Sea

Burial at sea is open to anyone in the UK, but it is most frequently chosen by Royal Navy veterans and their families. It is also one of the most heavily regulated disposition options in the country.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) in England and Northern Ireland, and the marine directorates in Scotland, oversee the licensing. Key requirements:

• No embalming — the body cannot be preserved with formaldehyde or other chemicals
• Natural fabrics only — cotton or paper dressings; no synthetic fibres, plastic buttons, or metal zippers
• Durable identification tag — non-corrosive, securely attached, with the deceased's details and the funeral director's name
• DNA sampling — deep muscle samples uploaded to the UK Missing Persons DNA Database before burial, requiring next-of-kin consent
• Specialist coffin — solid untreated softwood, 40–50 holes (each 50mm diameter) for water ingress, minimum 200kg of iron/steel/concrete ballast clamped to the base, and steel banding at 30cm intervals

Permitted burial sites are limited to designated coordinates: Needles Spoil Ground (Isle of Wight), Newhaven (East Sussex), and Tynemouth (North Tyneside) in England. Scotland permits sites 15 miles west of John O'Groats and 210 miles west of Oban.

Medal Display for Naval Personnel

The convention for displaying a Royal Navy veteran's medals follows the same general rules as other services, with one distinctive touch: the velvet cushion used to display medals at the head of the coffin is traditionally navy blue for sailors. The cushion is placed at the head of the coffin and removed by the funeral director before burial or cremation.

Veterans attending the service wear their own medals on the left breast. Near relatives wearing a deceased sailor's medals do so on the right breast, in civilian dress only.

Arranging Naval Honours

The Royal Naval Association is the primary contact for sourcing ceremonial support — standard bearers, guards of honour, and connections to serving personnel who may attend. Contact your local RNA branch early in the planning process; they coordinate volunteers and need lead time.

For a comprehensive guide covering every Royal Navy tradition alongside Army and RAF protocols — including the contact scripts, ceremony cue sheets, and coffin-drape positioning rules — see our Military Funeral — UK guide.