Flag of the United States Navy


The flag of the United States Navy consists of the seal of the U.S. Department of the Navy in the center, above a yellow scroll inscribed "United States Navy" in dark blue letters, against a dark blue background.
The flag was officially authorized by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on April 24, 1959 and was formally introduced to the public on April 30, 1959 at a ceremony at Naval Support Facility Carderock in Maryland. It replaced the infantry battalion flag which had been used as the U.S. Navy's unofficial flag for many years beforehand.
It is used on land, displayed inside naval offices, in parades, and for other ceremonial occasions, and often on a staff at the quarterdeck of ships in port. It is not flown by ships at sea, nor on outdoor flagpoles on naval land installations, and is not used as an identifying mark of U.S. Navy ships and facilities, as the U.S. Coast Guard ensign is.

Executive order

The following is details from the Naval Telecommunications Procedures, Flags, Pennants & Customs, NTP 13
1710. FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY
By Executive Order 10812 of 24 April 1959, the President, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy with the approval of the Secretary of Defense, established and prescribed an official flag for the United States Navy. This flag is to be 4 feet 4 inches hoist by 5 feet 6 inches fly, of dark blue material, with yellow fringe, 2½ inches wide. In the center of the flag is a device 3 feet 1 inch overall, consisting of the inner pictorial portion of the seal of the Department of the Navy, in its proper colors within a circular yellow rope edging, all 2 feet 6 inches in diameter above a yellow scroll inscribed "UNITED STATES NAVY" in dark blue letters.

Streamers

The following streamers are authorized, in order of precedence:
OrderNameImageDevice
1Presidential Unit Citation "red numerals"
2Navy Unit Commendation"red numerals"
3Meritorious Unit Commendation "red numerals"
4Revolutionary War
5Quasi-War with France
6the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary War
7War of 1812
8African Slave Trade
9Operations Against West Indian Pirates
10Indian Wars
11Mexican War
12Civil War
13Spanish Campaign
14Philippine Campaign
15China Relief Expedition
16World War I Victory
17World War II Victory
18Second Nicaraguan Campaign
19Yangtze Service
20China Service
21American Defense Service
22American Campaign
23Asiatic-Pacific Campaign x 2
24European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
25Korean Service
26National Defense Service
27Armed Forces Expeditionary
28Vietnam Service
29Southwest Asia Service
30Kosovo Campaign
31Afghanistan Campaign
32Iraq Campaign
33Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary
34Global War on Terrorism Service

  • Note that a "x #" designation denotes the number of streamers used to carry devices, not the number of awards. For streamers there the device column lists "red numerals", the total number of the award earned by ships and units of the Navy are totalled and embroidered in red. Because these numbers are constantly changing, they are not listed here.

    Navy jack

are additional national flags flown by warships on a jackstaff at the bow of the ship. These are usually flown only when not underway and when the ship is dressed on special occasions.