CHAPTER III
ENSIGNS, FLAGS AND PENNANTS
The National Flag of a country is the flag which bears the device of the nation, the emblem by which the nationality of the state is shown.
An Ensign is the flag or insignia used to show the nationality of the armed forces of a nation; more properly speaking, it is the colors displayed by a ship of war or carried by a regiment of soldiers.
In some countries flags of different designs from those of their national flags are prescribed to be carried by the troops of the armies or displayed as “colors” by the ships of war, but in the United States of America the National Flag, the “Stars and Stripes,” is carried by the Army and displayed as the colors by all ships of the Navy.
The flag of the United States was authorized by a resolution of Congress of June 14, 1777, reading as follows:
_Resolved_, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.
For the design of the flag made in accordance with this resolution it was decided to make the stripes of equal width and the stars five-pointed.
Vermont was admitted as a State in 1791 and Kentucky was admitted in 1792, and as a result an act of Congress approved on January 13, 1794, provided:
That from and after the first day of May, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, the flag of the United States be fifteen stripes, alternate red and white. That the union be fifteen stars, white in a blue field.
The rapid increase in the number of States in the succeeding years caused much confusion regarding the exact design of the flag and there came to be a great diversity as to the numbers of stars and stripes. In order to clear up all doubt the Fifteenth Congress passed an act, which was approved by the President on April 4, 1818, entitled,
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled_, That from and after the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be twenty stars, white in a blue field.
SECTION 2. _And be it further enacted_, That on the admission of every new state into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission.
In accordance with this law there are at present forty-eight stars in the union of the flag. The proportions of the national flag as prescribed by the Presidential Executive Order No. 1637, dated October 29, 1912, are as follows:
Hoist (or width) of flag 1 Fly (or length) of flag 1.9 Hoist (or width) of union ⁷/₁₃ Fly (or length) of union .76 Width of each stripe ¹/₁₃
There is an exception made in these proportions in the case of the flags carried by the troops, in which case the sizes are established by special orders for the Army and Navy.
For the small flags flown by the small boats and launches of the ships of war and other government ships the executive order places the number of stars in the union at thirteen on account of the fact that the identity of the several stars would be lost if the whole number of forty-eight were used.
The Union Jack is a flag consisting of the union of the national flag, and it is flown at the jackstaff in the bow of ships of war. Its size should be the same as that of the union of the flag with which it is flown.
A pennant is triangular shaped, in some cases having a V-shaped notch cut in the outer end of the fly.
The “commission pennant” is long and narrow, the portion next the hoist, or mast, having a blue field with thirteen white stars and the remainder being divided longitudinally into two parts, red and white. It is flown at the mainmast head of all ships in commission which have no officer on board above the rank of Captain in the Navy, and indicates that the ship carrying it is “in commission,” or on active service.
On ships of war carrying an officer senior in rank to a Captain the prescribed distinctive flag for such officer is flown at the mainmast head in place of the commission pennant, and the ship is known as a “Flagship.”
Naval officers above the rank of Captain in the Navy are called “Flag Officers.”
These distinctive flags of higher command are shown in the illustrations. When two or more flag officers of the same grade are in the same fleet the senior one flies the blue flag of his grade and all the others fly the red flag of the grade.
On any one ship of war only the distinctive flag of the senior officer of flag or higher rank is flown; thus, if the President is aboard an Admiral’s flagship the flag of the President is flown but not that of the Admiral.
In former times the flag was carried into the front line of battle by the troops who used it as their rallying point, but in the battles of to-day, where every attempt is made to disguise and screen the lines of troops from the enemy, the flags and standards of the brigades and regiments would serve to mark the exact position of the lines and thus convey valuable information to the enemy and enable him to concentrate the fire of artillery and machine guns upon them. Therefore the flags are kept far in the rear to be carried in parades and ceremonies only or when the victorious troops march in triumph through the streets of cities captured from the enemy.
In the accompanying illustrations the ensigns, flags and pennants of the principal maritime nations are shown, the national flag and the ensigns carried by the land troops being indicated in each case.
In addition to the flags of the United States shown in the illustrations special flags are provided as distinguishing insignia for the Naval Reserve, the Naval Militia of the several States and territories, and for the merchant ships operated under the United States Shipping Board.
_The Naval Reserve Flag._—This flag is a “swallow-tailed” pennant of blue bunting bearing a design in the center consisting of two crossed anchors surcharged by a shield of the United States and surmounted by a spread eagle, the design being in white, the thirteen stars on the shield being blue and the bars on the shield being alternate white and red. This flag may be flown as an insignia on private vessels or vessels of the merchant service commanded by officers of the Naval Reserve Force, but shall not be flown in lieu of the national ensign.
_The Naval Militia Flag._—This flag is flown as a distinguishing flag by ships of the Naval Militia of the several States and territories when not in the service of the United States. It has a blue field with a yellow diamond in the center and a blue vertical foul anchor in the center of the diamond. These ships of the Naval Militia also fly a pennant at the mainmast, the part next the mast being white with the yellow diamond and blue foul anchor design upon it and the remainder of the pennant is divided longitudinally into two equal stripes of blue and yellow.
_The Shipping Board Flag._—This flag is flown as a distinguishing flag, or “house flag,” by the merchant ships operated under the United States Shipping Board, and consists of a white flag bearing a shield of the United States in the center supported by a blue anchor with the letters “U. S. A.” above the design and the letters “S. B.” below it. The shield has a blue field with thirteen white stars and the thirteen stripes are alternate white and red.
The National Ensign carried by each regiment of United States troops is 4 feet 4 inches in height and 5 feet 6 inches long, on a pike or staff 9 feet long, with the edges trimmed with knotted yellow silk fringe 2½ inches wide and a cord and two tassels of red, white and blue silk strands.
In addition to the National Ensign each regiment carries a Regimental Standard of the same dimensions as the National Flag, this standard being of the distinctive color for the arm of the service to which the regiment belongs, and bearing the corps insignia and the number of the regiment.
In the Army the Regimental Standards are as follows:
_Regiments of Engineers_, of scarlet silk having embroidered upon it in proper colors the Coat of Arms of the United States, with below it the insignia of the Corps of Engineers and a scroll bearing the inscription “5 U. S. ENGINEERS” (the number being that of the regiment) embroidered in white silk, trimmed around the edges with white silk fringe and having a cord and tassels of white and scarlet silk strands.
_Coast Artillery Corps_, of scarlet silk having embroidered upon it in proper colors the Coat of Arms of the United States, with below it two cannons crossed embroidered in yellow silk and a scroll bearing the inscription “U. S. COAST ARTILLERY CORPS” embroidered in red silk, trimmed around the edges with yellow silk fringe and having a cord and tassels of red and yellow silk strands.
_Infantry Regiments_, of blue silk having embroidered upon it in proper colors the Coat of Arms of the United States, with below it a scroll bearing the inscription “24 U. S. INFANTRY” (the number being that of the regiment) embroidered in white silk, trimmed around the edges with yellow silk fringe and having a cord and tassels of blue and white silk strands.
_Cavalry Regiments_, of yellow silk having embroidered upon it in proper colors the Coat of Arms of the United States, with below it a scroll bearing the inscription “7 U. S. CAVALRY” (the number being that of the regiment) embroidered in yellow silk, trimmed around the edges with yellow silk fringe.
_Field Artillery Regiments_, of scarlet silk having embroidered upon it in proper colors the Coat of Arms of the United States, with below it a scroll bearing the inscription “8 U. S. FIELD ARTILLERY” (the number being that of the regiment) embroidered in red silk, trimmed around the edges with yellow silk fringe.
_Signal Corps Battalions_, of orange silk having embroidered upon it in proper colors the Coat of Arms of the United States, with below it the insignia of the Signal Corps and a scroll bearing the inscription “4 BATTALION SIGNAL CORPS” (the number being that of the Battalion) embroidered in white silk, trimmed around the edges with white silk fringe.
_The United States Navy_ Regimental Standard, carried by infantry regiments of sailors when landed for shore operations, is of blue silk with a white diamond in the center and a vertical blue anchor upon the white diamond.
_The United States Navy_ Regimental Standard, carried by artillery regiments of sailors when landed for shore operations, is of red silk with a white diamond in the center and a vertical red anchor upon the white diamond.
_The United States Naval Militia_ Regimental Standards are of the same design as those for the regular Navy except that the diamond in the center is yellow.
_The United States Marine Corps_ Regimental Standard is of blue silk having embroidered upon it in the center the Marine Corps insignia in shades of white, gold and gray silk to represent silver and gold, with above it a scroll in red silk bearing the designation of the regiment in white silk embroidery, and below it a scroll of red silk bearing the inscription “U. S. MARINE CORPS,” trimmed around the edges with yellow silk fringe and having a cord and tassels of yellow and red silk strands.
Each regimental National Ensign and Regimental Standard has upon the staff beneath the flag a silver plate for each battle in which the regiment has been engaged, the name and date of the battle being engraved thereon.
Flags are provided for the use of general officers of the United States Army to be flown from a staff in the bow of a boat when making official trips by water, or from a staff at the front of an automobile; these flags being of red bunting bearing four white stars for a general, three white stars for a lieutenant general, two white stars for a major general and one white star for a brigadier general.
The flag for the Chief of Staff of the United States Army is of scarlet and white silk, divided diagonally from the lower left hand corner to the upper right hand corner, bearing in the center a large five-pointed star embroidered in white silk surcharged with the coat of arms of the United States embroidered in proper colors. In the upper left hand corner on the scarlet silk is a large five-pointed star embroidered in white and in the lower right hand corner a large five-pointed star embroidered in red.
For a coast defense district commander a red flag bearing two cannon, crossed, in yellow, is authorized, and for a post commander a pennant, the third next the staff being blue bunting with thirteen white stars and the remainder being of red bunting.
For the general officers and post commanders of the United States Marine Corps flags and pennants of similar design, but with the addition of the Marine Corps insignia in white added, are provided.
_A Guidon_ is a small flag or pennant carried by each troop of cavalry, company of mounted engineers, battery of field artillery, mounted company of the signal corps, field hospital, ambulance company and motor truck company, to designate the unit which carries it.
The cavalry guidon is made up of two horizontal stripes, the upper one red and the lower one white, the outer end being notched or cut “swallow-tailed,” with the number of the regiment in white on the upper stripe and the letter of the troop in red on the lower stripe.
The field artillery guidon is of the same shape and colors as the cavalry guidon with the addition of two cannons crossed in the center, the cannons and the regimental number and battery letter being in yellow.
The guidon for a company of mounted engineers is of the same shape as the cavalry guidon, of scarlet with the corps insignia of the engineers in the center, the word “MOUNTED” above it and the number of the company below it, the insignia, letters and numbers being in silver embroidery.
The guidon for a mounted company of the signal corps is of the same shape as the cavalry guidon, of orange with two flags crossed of white with red centers in the center and the letter of the company in white above them.
Each aero squadron carries a guidon of orange silk with the insignia of the signal corps in white and red in the center, the number of the squadron above the insignia in white and a white eagle with wings spread below the insignia.
Each telegraph company carries a guidon similar to the one for the aero squadron except that in place of the eagle there is a design representing forked lightning.
The guidon for each field hospital organization and ambulance company is of the same shape as the cavalry guidon, of maroon color, having in the center the insignia of the hospital corps, a caduceus, in white, with the number of the organization above the insignia and the initials “F. H.” for field hospital or “A. C.” for ambulance company in white below the insignia.
The guidon for a motor truck company is a pennant, triangular in shape, of red, white and blue, the white portion being diamond shaped with one of the horizontal points at the staff and the other at the outer end of the pennant, the triangular portion above the white diamond next to the staff being red and the corresponding triangular portion below the white diamond being blue, with the quartermaster corps insignia in blue at the center of the white diamond.
The flag of the Geneva Convention, to be used in connection with the national flag in time of war with a country which was a signatory of that convention, is a white flag having a red Greek cross in the center. It is used to mark hospitals, hospital ships, field hospitals, ambulances and ambulance vessels and boats. The size prescribed to mark general hospitals in the United States Army is 5 feet hoist (high) by 9 feet fly (wide) with the red cross 4 feet high and 4 feet wide and the arms of the cross 16 inches wide. The smaller Geneva Convention flags are of the same general proportions.
An interesting development of warfare resulting from the increasing use of aircraft in war is the use of distinguishing marks for the aircraft of the different nations. At first the national flags were used for this purpose, but it was found that they would not serve to identify the nationality of the aeroplane or dirigible airship when viewed from all directions and another system of distinguishing marks has been adopted.
These aircraft distinguishing marks for the aircraft of the principal nations are shown in the accompanying illustration. In order that the aircraft carrying them may be distinguished both from above and below these marks are painted on the upper side of each upper wing and on the lower side of each lower wing of aeroplanes and on both the upper and lower sides of the gas bags of dirigible airships and balloons. The marks are also carried on the sides of the fusilage near the bow and on the sides of the vertical rudders of aeroplanes in many cases.
These distinguishing marks are necessary for the aircraft employed in war in order that friend may be distinguished from foe by the airmen and by the gunners and riflemen afloat and ashore.