Jack of the United States of America

Jack of the United States as seen on theflag of the United States
Union Jack
Proportion	71:100
Adopted	1777 (1777) (initial use of underlying design template) July 4, 1960 (1960-07-04) (current design) July 4, 2019 (2019-07-04) (readopted)
Design	50 white five-pointed stars defacing a blue field in 9 rows, alternating between 6 and 5 stars (top to bottom), or 11 rows alternating between 5 and 4 stars(left to right).

Thejack of the United States, referred to as theUnion Jack^[1] by theU.S. Navy, is amaritime jack flag flown on the bow of U.S. vessels that aremoored or anchored. In addition tocommissioned U.S. Navy ships, the jack is used by theU.S. Coast Guard,^[2] theMilitary Sealift Command, the ships of theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other U.S. government entities. While anchored or moored, the jack is flown on thebow of a ship, and theensign (which, for the U.S. Navy is thenational flag) is flown on thestern. Onceunder way, the jack is lowered.^[3]

The Union Jack was adopted on June 14, 1777,^[1] alongside the U.S. national flag itself.^[4] Since then, the jack has essentially consisted of thecanton of the national flag, with each star added to the national flag being added to the Union Jack also.^[1]

It is widely held that, before the Union Jack, the jack of the United States was theFirst Navy Jack.^[5] The exact historical appearance of this flag is disputed, but it is displayed today by the Navy bearing a rattlesnake andmotto.^[5] During the last several decades, the Union Jack has sometimes been temporarily removed from use—such as from 1975 to 1976, when the First Navy Jack was flown for theU.S. Bicentennial; in 2000, whensubmarines and submarinetenders flew a special jack for the hundredth anniversary of the first commissioned U.S. Navy submarine;^[6] and for all warships from 2002 to 2019, when the Navy flew the First Navy Jack for theGlobal War on Terrorism.

The oldest commissioned warship in active U.S. naval status (that is, having the longest total period in active status) that is notUSS Constitution (technically the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy but is only used for ceremonial purposes) orUSS Pueblo (captured byNorth Korea in 1968 and is still commissioned in the U.S. Navy; it is currently amuseum ship) flies the First Navy Jack, and is the only active U.S. warship that flies a different jack than the Union Jack. Currently, this ship isUSS Blue Ridge.

For most of U.S. history, the primary jack design has been the bluecanton with stars (the "union") from theU.S. national ensign. The blue fielded, white-starred jack is referred to as the "Union Jack," not to be confused with theUnion Jack of the United Kingdom, which has the same name but a different design. Like the U.S. ensign, the number of stars on the jack correspond with the number of constituent states the U.S. has. Rules for flying the jack are similar to the national ensign, except that the jack is only flown at the bow when the ship isanchored, made fast or alongside.

The only written description of the Navy Jack dating from the American Revolutionary war is a January 1776 document titledSignals for the American Fleet by CommodoreEsek Hopkins. Hopkins discusses "the strip'd jack" and a "striped flag" as symbols of theContinental Navy. No snake nor field of stars is mentioned, though the exact appearance of these flags is not known. A print of American ships from August 1776 shows one ship flying a striped flag and another thePine Tree Flag, both from the stern, the customary place for a nationalensign.^[7]

The 48 star version of the Union Jack flag became official in 1912 after Arizona and New Mexico became states. Throughout WWI and WWII, and until 1959 the Union Jack flag consisted of 48 stars.^{[8][unreliable source?]}

From September 11, 2002, the U.S. Navy made use of the so-calledFirst Navy Jack. However, the standard U.S. jack (i.e. 50 white stars alternative in columns of four and five defacing a blue field) continued to be used as the jack by vessels of U.S. federal agencies such as theU.S. Coast Guard, theMilitary Sealift Command and theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps and by U.S. civilian ships and by U.S. yachts. The majority of the U.S. Navy's warships returned to using the U.S. Union Jack on June 4, 2019.

The jack is flown from the jackstaff from 08:00 to sunset while U.S. Navy ships aremoored or atanchor. It is required to be the same size as the union of the ensign being flown from the stern of the ship. It is also flown from theyardarm during a generalcourt-martial or court of inquiry.^[9] During times when the ensign is athalf mast, the jack is also at half mast. The jack is hoisted smartly and lowered ceremoniously in the same manner as the ensign, however the jack is not dipped when the ensign is dipped.^[10]

Some other exceptions to the use of the U.S. Union Jack have occurred in the case of the U.S. Navy, the most prominent being the use of the First Navy Jack by the U.S. Navy in honor of the U.S. founding's bicentennial and for other uses subsequently.^[11] For example, following theBicentennial, in August 1980, use of the First Navy Jack was granted to the active commissioned ship having the longest total period of front-line operational service, this use to be in place of the Union Jack until that ship was decommissioned or transferred to inactive status, whereupon the next such ship in seniority inherits the honor of its use. This use is limited to the oldest "commissioned" naval vessel (i.e., an all-militaryUnited States Ship [ship prefix USS] versus a part-military/part-civilian crewedUnited States Naval Ship [ship prefix USNS]) in front-line operational service.

On June 3, 1999, the Secretary of the Navy also authorized the flying of the Submarine Centennial Jack on all U.S. Navy submarines and submarine tenders during 2000.^[12][a]

On February 21, 2019, the Chief of Naval Operations directed that U.S. Navy warships fly the U.S. jack again beginning on June 4, 2019.^[13][14] The oldest active U.S. warship flies theFirst Navy Jack; that ship has beenUSS Blue Ridge since 2014.^[15]

Stars	Design	Dates in general use	Notes
0		January 8, 1776 – June 14, 1777	The first jack adopted by the United States consisted of thirteen alternating red and white horizontal stripes. Known as theFirst Navy Jack, it is often depicted with arattlesnake and motto; however, the evidence is inconclusive that the jack actually had either of these. There is reason to believe that theContinental Navy jack was simply a red and white striped flag with no other adornment.[16]
13		June 14, 1777 – May 1, 1795	The introduction of the Union Jack design, "comprising the national ensign's blue field and white stars";[17] examples of many layouts of the 13-star pattern exist (seeFlag of the United States).
15		May 1, 1795 – July 3, 1818	The 15-star jack was used by the United States during theQuasi-War and theWar of 1812.
20		July 4, 1818 – July 3, 1819
21		July 4, 1819 – July 3, 1820
23		July 4, 1820 – July 3, 1822
24		July 4, 1822 – July 3, 1836
25		July 4, 1836 – July 3, 1837
26		July 4, 1837 – July 3, 1845
27		July 4, 1845 – July 3, 1846
28		July 4, 1846 – July 3, 1847
29		July 4, 1847 – July 3, 1848
30		July 4, 1848 – July 3, 1851
31		July 4, 1851 – July 3, 1858
32		July 4, 1858 – July 3, 1859
33		July 4, 1859 – July 3, 1861	Civil War
34		July 4, 1861 – July 3, 1863
35		July 4, 1863 – July 3, 1865
36		July 4, 1865 – July 3, 1867
37		July 4, 1867 – July 3, 1877
38		July 4, 1877 – July 3, 1890
43		July 4, 1890 – July 3, 1891
44		July 4, 1891 – July 3, 1896
45		July 4, 1896 – July 3, 1908	Sinking of the USSMaine; Spanish–American War; Great White Fleet
46		July 4, 1908 – July 3, 1912
48		July 4, 1912 – July 3, 1959	World War I; World War II
49		July 4, 1959 – July 3, 1960
50		July 4, 1960 – October 12, 1975[11]	The 50-star jack was adopted on July 4, 1960, afterHawaii became a state.
0		October 13, 1975 – December 31, 1976[11]	On October 13, 1975, commissioned U.S. Navy warships switched to theFirst Navy Jack in commemoration of thebicentennial of the United States Navy and theU.S. founding's bicentennial. It was used in this capacity until December 31, 1976, when the 50-star jack was re-adopted.[18]
50		January 1, 1977 – September 10, 2002[11][b]	The 50-star jack was re-adopted by commissioned U.S. Navy warships on January 1, 1977. Since August 18, 1980, theFirst Navy Jack has been used by the active commissioned ship having the longest total period as active in place of the union jack until the ship is decommissioned or transferred to inactive status, whereupon the next such ship inherits the honor.
0		September 11, 2002[b] – June 4, 2019	Global War on Terrorism War in Afghanistan Iraq War TheFirst Navy Jack was used from 2002 to 2019 byUnited States Navy vessels only.MSC and non-U.S. Navy vessels, such as those of theU.S. Coast Guard andNOAA, continued to use the 50-star union jack that was adopted in 1960.
50		June 4, 2019 – present	The 50-star jack was ordered to be re-adopted by commissioned U.S. Navy warships on February 21, 2019, effective June 4, 2019, to coincide with anniversary of theBattle of Midway. From August 18, 1980, onward, the active commissioned ship having the longest total period as active uses theFirst Navy Jack instead.[11] Currently that ship isUSS Blue Ridge (LCC-19).

• Flag of the United States
• Flags of the United States Armed Forces

• Continental Navy
• Flags of the American Revolution
• United States Navy
• Military flags of the United States
• Jacks (flags)
• Flags with stars
• Horizontally symmetrical flags

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from June 2019
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from June 2019
• All articles lacking reliable references
• Articles lacking reliable references from July 2023
• Pages using Sister project links with wikidata namespace mismatch