Signalman 1 & C - Historic Naval Ships Association

concerned, or the senior officer present, considers theneed to render the flagship less distinguishable. Ifhauled down, it will be replaced with a commissionpennant.Personal flags or command pennants of militaryofficers other than U.S. naval officers eligible forcommand at sea are not displayed from ships or craftsof the U.S. Navy.An officer of the Navy commanding a shipengaged otherwise than in the service of the UnitedStates must not display a personal flag, commandpennant, or commission pennant from such ship or inthe bow of a boat.BROAD AND BURGEE COMMANDPENNANTSPersonal command pennants of an officer of theNavy, not a flag officer, commanding a unit of shipsor aircraft are of two types: broad and burgee. A broadcommand pennant indicates command of1. A force, flotilla, squadron, or group of ships ofany type (PHIBGRU, DESRON), or2. An aircraft wing.The burgee command pennant indicates commandof a division of ships other than aircraft carriers orcruisers, or a major subdivision of an aircraft wing.The broad and burgee command pennants areshown with numerals to indicate the organizationalnumber of the command within a type, when numeralsare assigned. When two commanders within a type areentitled to display the same command pennant andhave the same organizational number, the senior of thetwo uses Roman numerals on the pennant. In all othercases, Arabic numerals are used. For more informationconcerning the use of the broad and burgee commandpennants, refer to NTP 13, chapter 9.SIZE OF PERSONAL FLAGS ANDCOMMAND PENNANTSA vessel under 600 feet in length shall display asize 6 command pennant or a size 7 personnel flag. Avessel 600 feet or greater in length shall display a size4 command pennant or a size 6 personal flag.DISPLAY OF TWO PERSONALFLAGS SIMULTANEOUSLYWhen the personal flag of a civil official isdisplayed aboard a ship or craft of the Navy, thepersonal flag or command pennant of the embarkedcommander must be displayed as follows:Aboard a single-masted ship, at the starboardyardarmAboard a two-masted ship, at the fore truckAboard a ship with more than two masts, at theafter mastWhen the personal flag of a civil official and thepersonal flag or command pennant of an officer of theNavy are displayed at the starboard yardarm, the flagof the civil official shall be displayed outboard.DISPLAY OF A PERSONAL FLAG ANDPENNANT WHEN NATIONAL ENSIGN ISAT MASTHEADThe President's flag, if displayed at a mastheadwhere the national ensign is required to be displayedduring an official visit or during periods of dress orfull-dress ship, must remain at that masthead to portof the United States ensign and to starboard of aforeign national ensign.Except as just mentioned, a personal flag orcommand pennant must not be displayed at the samemasthead with the ensign, but should be displayed asfollows:During periods of dressing or full-dressing, ifdisplayed from the fore truck or from the masthead ofa single-masted ship, it should be shifted to thestarboard yardarm; if displayed from the main truck, thepersonal flag or command pennant is shifted at the foretruck in lieu of the national ensign at that mast; and ifdisplayed from the after truck of a ship with more thantwo masts, it remains at the after truck in lieu of thenational ensign.During gun salutes in which the ensign is hoistedat the main truck, however, the personal flag or pennantis simply lowered clear of the ensign.During an official visit, the personal flag orcommand pennant is shifted to the starboard yardarm ina single-masted ship and to the fore truck in atwo-masted ship.10-9