Captain James Clephan (1768–1851) was a Royal Navy officer who served as a lieutenant at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Born in Scoonie in Fife, Scotland in 1768, Clephan was originally a weaver but joined the Merchant navy when the weaving industry went into decline.

"[1] Assigned to the 90-gun HMS Namur, Clephan served as her Second Lieutenant until the Peace of Amiens in April 1802.

Taking the opportunity to marry during this brief interval, in March 1803 Clephan was appointed First Lieutenant of the 74-gun HMS Spartiate, which had been captured from the French during the Battle of the Nile.

He was on board Spartiate during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, after which he was presented with the ship's Union Jack as a mark of esteem from the crew.

[5] On 8 October 2009 The Times reported that the Union Jack which had been presented to Clephan after Trafalgar had been discovered in a drawer by a descendant and was to be auctioned.