American Ensigns, Jacks, Flags & Pennants

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NATIONAL TREASURES
American Ensigns, Jacks, Flags
& Pennants of Named Vessels
ZFC0707 13 Star U.S. Flag, Privateer Minerva Ensign, Revolutionary War. This early Stars & Stripes Flag of the Revolutionary War belonged to the Revolutionary War privateer Minerva and it is believed to be the only named ship’s ensign to have survived. Read more ZFC2575 17 Star, 17 Stripe U.S. Ensign, Privateer Blockade, War of 1812 captured by Captain James Clephan, HMS Charybdis. This flag it is significant for both its rarity and symbolic importance. There are no other 17 star with 17 stripe known U.S. flags. Read more
ZFC0418 15 Star U.S. Jack Merchant ship Vineyard, 1796 -1818. This flag now bears 15 stars in three horizontal rows of 5 stars each, corresponding to the official U.S. jack for 1795 - 1818. The field is made of dark blue bunting, pieced horizontally by hand. The only such jack known to exist. Read more ZFC0621 13 Star U.S. Commercial or Merchantman’s Jack of S.S. Arctic, 1850s. This flag features the stylized arms of the U.S. The American bald eagle bearing the arrows of defense and the olive branch of peace under an arc of 13 white, five-point stars. Read more
ZFC0630 18 Star U.S. Abolitionist Exclusionary Flag. This flag flew on the schooner United States when it departed Boston harbor in 1860 on the Hayes Arctic Expedition. Only 18 stars, arranged in two concentric rings around a central star, representing union, despite the fact that 33 stars should have been represented in the canton. Read more ZFC2487 A Union Gunboat Flag From the S.S. Kenesaw, 1863— 1864. This is an exceptional ship’s name identification swallowtail pennant of the Riverboat S.S. Kenesaw, a steamboat chartered by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Department for the transport of troops and supplies on the Tennessee River in 1863 and 1864. Read more
ZFC2591 The jack of the CSS Patrick Henry, school ship of the Confederate States Navy. It was preserved by the Superintendant, Capt. William Harwar Parker, 1864 –1865. Read more
ZFC2590 Confederate States – 2nd National. CSS Alabama. This is the ensign of the famous commerce raider, CSS Alabama, presented to the officer’s English host after the 17 of June 1864 Battle of Cherbourg when the Alabama sank after her poor gunpowder proved fatal. Read more ZFC0299 45 Star U.S. Naval Flag from USS Olympia. Inscribed markings attribute this flag to the USS Olympia under the command of Admiral Dewey at Manila bay in the 1890s. However, there is a discrepancy between the inscriptions and the names and dates on the record books of history. Read more
ZFC3390 Signal Code Flag ―“N”, USS Winslow, Cardenas Bay, Cuba, 1898. Part of International Code of Signals made and used on board of U.S. Torpedo Boat ‘Winslow’ presented by Lieutenant Charles S. Thurston. Read more ZFC5998 U.S. Presidential Yacht’s Naval Guard Color - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1901. The golden yellow lettering and fringe on this flag reflect the freedom with which these flags are employed. The USS Mayflower, in its incarnation as both the Flagship of the Atlantic Fleet and the Presidential Yacht, was used on many official and ceremonial duties. Read more
ZFC3248 U.S. 7 Star Commission Pennant from Texas, 1928. 7 star Commission Pennant from the USS Texas. It is too small to have been used on a battleship the size of the USS Texas, but was likely used on the captains’ gig or any small boat bearing the captain, as the commission pennant is the personal mark of a captain when embarked in a small boat. Read more ZFC1480 U.S.S. Shirk, U.S. Navy Burgee Command Pennant, 1919 -1930 The broad command pennant is flown in lieu of the commission pennant by commanders of squadrons of ships or aircraft wings who are not flag officers. The burgee command pennant is used the same as the broad pennant, but by commanders of divisions of aircraft wings. Read more
ZFC3289 48 Star U.S. Ensign of U.S.S. Ancon, 1943 - Communications Command Ship, North Africa, Sicily, Normandy. The U.S.S. em>Ancon, the flagship of the Commander of the Atlantic Fleet Amphibious Forces, Rear Admiral Alan G. Kirk, wore this large wool ensign during the Allied Invasion of Sicily. Read more ZFC1083 U.S.S. Phelps, 48 Star U.S. Jack, 1st U.S. Flag hoisted over Japanese Home Territory WWII, Feb. 1944. Upon dropping anchor in the harbor of Kwajalein, this “jack” (symbolizing the reuniting of the ship with “mother earth”) was raised at the ship’s bow, in accordance with navy traditions. Read more
ZFC0762 U.S. 48 Star Flag - Ensign of U.S.S. Hydrus, 1944 - 1945. This ensign is typical of the 48 star wool flags that were mass-produced for the war effort. It is estimated that thousands of similar ensigns were issued to US ships, but in time, identifying specific flags with specific ships becomes more difficult. Read more ZFC3544 48 Star U.S. Ensign from U.S.S. Decatur (DD-936) commissioned on 1954. This ensign was from the Decatur Grouping of flags and was mistaken at auction as an indentified WWI US ensign. However further inquiry has uncovered that it is, in fact, the U.S. ensign from the 1950s which was used at the christening of the US Decatur in 1955. Read more
ZFC0077 USS Francis Scott Key, 7 star US Commissioning Pennant, Nuclear Submarine, used at launch, 1966. There are 7 white stars on the blue canton plus one red and one white stripe in the Navy’s “commission pennant.” In the great age of sailing vessels, all navy ships had a “suite of flags” – jack, ensign, and pennant. Read more ZFC1225 Unofficial U.S. Navy Ship’s Flag - U.S.S. Parsons, 1959 - 1982. This flag is an unofficial flag for the U.S.S. Parsons. Also called “Battle Flags” or “Unrep Flags.” The term “unrep flag” derives from the unfurling of the ship’s flag from a yardarm after an underway replenishment, or “unrep.”). These flags are officially discouraged by the U.S. Navy. Read more
ZFC2465 U.S. 13 Star Coast Guard Ensign - Tug Capstain 1960s. This small, nyla-wool, United States Coast Guard (USCG) ensign is identified to the USCG Tug, Capstain, WYTL 65601, berthed at the USCG Station, Delaware Bay, Philadelphia, PA. Read more
ZFC3479 U.S. Navy 7 Star Commission Pennant - U.S.S. Tuscaloosa. This is a small, nylon, 7 star US Navy Commission Pennant from the USS Tuscaloosa that was presented to her skipper, Commander L. D. Mott when he relinquished command in 1973. Read more ZFC0051 U.S. 50 Star Jack - USS Truxton Nuclear Guided Missile Cruiser 1967-1997. This jack is a blue nylon field, with 50 embroidered white stars in horizontal rows and had been the standard jack of the United States since 1960. Jacks are flown on the jacktaff at the bow of all U.S. naval vessels while at anchor or while dressing ship. Read more
ZFC2588  USS Constitution No. 1 Ensign - 1845 to 1850. This 28-star ensign, made to commemorate the admission of Texas is from the most famous ship in the United States Navy, the USS Constitution. These U.S. ensigns with these particular star counts were official between 1846 and 1851. Read more