jack of the United States

For most of U.S. history, the primary jack design has been the blue canton with stars (the "union") from the U.S. national ensign. The blue fielded, white-starred jack is referred to as the "Union Jack," not to be confused with the Union 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 is anchored, made fast or alongside.

File:Ship detail of Baltimore album quilt circa 1845-1855.tif circa 1845–1855, a ship flies a red-and-white striped flag at the stern and another including a blue canton from the fore-mast.]]

The only written description of the Navy Jack dating from the American Revolutionary war is a January 1776 document titled Signals for the American Fleet by Commodore Esek Hopkins. Hopkins discusses "the strip'd jack" and a "striped flag" as symbols of the Continental 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 the Pine Tree Flag, both from the stern, the customary place for a national ensign.{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/heritage/banners/usnavy-jack.html |website=Naval History and Heritage Command |title=The U.S. Navy's Jack |date=September 21, 2021 }}

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.{{Cite web|title=48 STAR U.S. NAVY JACK, WWI - WWII ERA (1917-1945)|url=https://jeffbridgman.com/inventory/index.php?page=out&id=2048 |website=Jeff R. Bridgman American Antiques, Antique Flags |access-date=July 9, 2023}}{{reliable source|date=July 2023}}

File:Steamer Tahoe 1919.jpg flying 48 star jack, 1919]]

From September 11, 2002, the U.S. Navy made use of the so-called First 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 the U.S. Coast Guard, the Military Sealift Command and the National 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 are moored or at anchor. 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 the yardarm during a general court-martial or court of inquiry.United States Navy Rate training manual. [http://www.tpub.com/content/aviation/14243/css/14243_196.htm Signalman 1 & C] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060527071352/http://www.tpub.com/content/aviation/14243/css/14243_196.htm |date=May 27, 2006 }} During times when the ensign is at half 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.United States Navy. [http://www.tpub.com/content/advancement/14325/css/14325_120.htm Basic Military Requirements (BMR) Revised Edition] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091637/http://www.tpub.com/content/advancement/14325/css/14325_120.htm |date=September 29, 2007 }}

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.{{cite web |url= https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/heritage/banners/usnavy-first-jack.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150203125030/http://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/heritage/banners/usnavy-first-jack.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= February 3, 2015 |title= The U.S. Navy's First Jack |access-date=2006-10-01 }} For example, following the Bicentennial, 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, said 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-military United States Ship [ship prefix USS] versus a part-military/part-civilian crewed United 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.[http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/cno/n87/usw/issue_8/downlink.html Undersea Warfare Summer 2000 Vol. 2, No. 4.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928003851/http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/cno/n87/usw/issue_8/downlink.html |date=September 28, 2006 }}{{Efn|That the U.S. Navy has, at times, elected to substitute other flags for the Union Jack has not affected its use as a jack by the Coast Guard, NOAA, other agencies and civilians.}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.cpf.navy.mil/news.aspx/110667|title=Navy Returns to Flying Union Jack|last=Chief of Naval Operations Public Affairs|date=2019-02-22|website=United States Navy|access-date=2021-01-08|archive-date=January 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110155259/https://www.cpf.navy.mil/news.aspx/110667|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/2014/09/12/the-colors-of-a-navy-and-nation/|title=The Colors of a Navy and Nation|website=The Sextant|access-date=March 5, 2019|archive-date=February 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226143442/http://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/2014/09/12/the-colors-of-a-navy-and-nation/|url-status=dead}} The oldest active U.S. warship flies the First Navy Jack; that ship has been {{USS|Blue Ridge|LCC-19|6}} since 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/messages/Documents/NAVADMINS/NAV2019/NAV19039.txt |title=Return to Flying the Union Jack |date=2019-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226121307/https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/messages/Documents/NAVADMINS/NAV2019/NAV19039.txt |access-date=2019-06-06|archive-date=February 26, 2019 |publisher=United States Navy}}

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