Aflagship is a vessel used by thecommanding officer of a group ofnaval ships, characteristically aflag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the first, largest, fastest, most heavily armed, or best known.
Over the years, the term "flagship" has become ametaphor used in industries such as broadcasting, automobiles, education, technology, airlines, and retail to refer to their highest quality, best known, or most expensive products and locations.[1]
In common naval use, the termflagship is fundamentally a temporary designation; the flagship is wherever theadmiral's flag is being flown. However, admirals have always needed additional facilities, including a meeting room large enough to hold all the captains of the fleet and a place for the admiral's staff to make plans and draw up orders. Historically, only larger ships could accommodate such requirements.
The term was also used by commercial fleets, when the distinction between a nation's navy and merchant fleet was not clear.
In the age ofsailing ships, the flagship was typically afirst rate; the aft of one of the three decks would become the admiral's quarters and staff offices. This can be seen onHMS Victory, the flagship of AdmiralHoratio Nelson at theBattle of Trafalgar in 1805, still serving theRoyal Navy as the ceremonial flagship of theFirst Sea Lord fromPortsmouth, England.
In the 20th century, ships became large enough that the larger types,cruisers and up, could accommodate a commander and staff. Some larger ships may have a separate flag bridge for use by the admiral and his staff while the captain commands from the main navigation bridge. Because its primary function is to coordinate a fleet, a flagship is not necessarily more heavily armed or armored than other ships.
Modern flagships are designed primarily forcommand and control rather than for fighting, and are also known ascommand ships.
As with many other naval terms,flagship has crossed over into general usage, where it means the most important or leading member of a group, as in theflagship station of a broadcast network. The word can be used as a noun or an adjective describing the most prominent or highly touted product, brand, location, or service offered by a company. Derivations include the "flagship brand" or "flagship product" of amanufacturing company, "flagship store" of aretail chain, or "flagship service" of a hospitality or transportation concern.
The term "flagship" may have specific applications:
Most states in the United States provide public university education through one or moreuniversity systems, with each system having multiple campuses located throughout the state. The phraseflagship institution orflagship university may be applied to an individual school or campus within each state system. TheCollege Board, for example, defines flagship universities as the first to be established as well as the most research-intensive public universities.[2][3][4] These schools are oftenland-grant research universities.[5] According toRobert M. Berdahl, then-chancellor of theUniversity of California, Berkeley, the phrase "flagship" came into existence in the 1950s when theMorrill Act schools were joined by newer institutions built in a wave ofpost-war expansion of state university systems.[6]
Berdahl notes further that because flagships are generally the oldest schools within a system, they are often the largest and best financed and are perceived as elite relative to non-flagship state schools.[6] He comments that "Those of us in 'systems' of higher education are frequently actively discouraged from using the term 'flagship' to refer to our campuses because it is seen as hurtful to the self-esteem of colleagues at other institutions in our systems. The use of the term is seen by some as elitist and boastful. It is viewed by many, in the context of the politics of higher education, as 'politically incorrect.' ... Only in the safe company of alumni is one permitted to use the term."[6]
Nevertheless, the term "flagship university" is still used in official contexts by various state university system boards of governors, state legislatures, and scholars.[7][8][9][10][11] Additionally, state universities often self-designate themselves as flagships.[12][13] Higher education agencies, research journals, and other organizations also use the term, though their lists of flagship universities can differ greatly. One list of 50 flagship universities (one per state) is employed by the Higher Education Coordinating Board,[14] the College Board,[3][4] the Princeton Review[15] and many other state and federal educational and governmental authorities[16] for a variety of purposes including tuition and rate comparisons,[2][17][18] research studies[19][20][16][21] and public policy analyses.[22][23][24][25]
Despite its ubiquity, this list[citation needed] of 50 flagships is not the only state-by-state examination of flagships. In a 2010 article, Standard & Poor's created its own list of flagship universities, noting that each state had typically one or two institutions with flagship characteristics.[26] The Education Sector, an education policy organization, used a different list of 51 flagship universities in an August 2011 study of college debt. Several states had multiple universities categorized as flagships due to "less of a clear distinction between a single flagship and other public universities" in those states.[27] Additionally, several states were not included in the study due to insufficient comparative data.[27] There are many instances in which more than one school in a state has claimed to be, or has been described as, a "flagship".[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]
In February 2012, Idaho's State Board of Education made a controversial decision to strike the word "flagship" from theUniversity of Idaho's mission statement.[37] The Board's President Richard Westerberg explained that this revision was made as part of the board's many changes made to multiple Idaho universities' mission statements in an effort to ensure all statements were consistent and collegial in nature rather than comparative or competitive.[38]
Flagship stores are core stores forbrand name retailers, larger than their standard outlets and stocking greater inventory, often found in prominent shopping districts such asFifth Avenue in New York,Oxford Street inLondon, orGinza district inTokyo.[39]
A flagship station is the principal station of aradio ortelevisionbroadcast network. It can be the station that produces the largest amount of material for the network, or the station in the parent company's home city, or both. The term dates back to the mid twentieth century years of broadcasting when headquarters stations produced programs for their networks.
For example, the flagship stations of theABC,NBC andCBS television and radio networks are theirowned and operated outlets inNew York City. Likewise,public television'sWNET served as primary member station forNational Educational Television (NET), a forerunner to the USPublic Broadcasting Service (PBS).
In sports broadcasting, the "flagship" is a team's primary station in their home market, which produces game broadcasts and feeds them toaffiliates. For example,WGN was the flagship station of theChicago Cubs baseball team, which has an extensiveCubs radio network spanning several states.
The term flagship is also used to describe an automaker's top (i.e., largest/most expensive/most prestigious) vehicle. Modern examples include theMercedes-Benz S-Class,Toyota Century,Hongqi L5, andLand Rover'sRange Rover.
American Airlines obtained copyright to the term "Flagship" on 3 May 1937, per the Catalog of Copyright Entries.[40] As of 20 December 2019 as stated in a legal document, this includes "the marks "Flagship", "Flagship Lounge" and "Flagship Suite" (the "Flagship Marks")—to describe premium air travel services for first and business class passengers since the 1930s and 1940s."[41][42]Delta Air Lines also uses/used the word "Flagship" to describe its top lines, as pointed out by AA and being argued legally in December 2019 and into 2020.[43]
Within conservation biology, the termflagship species refers to a species or taxon that is a symbol or rallying point to catalyze conservation actions.[44]
Media related toFlagships at Wikimedia Commons
