What’s On Jamie’s Flagpole Now: The First Navy Jack
First Navy Jack
Today on my flagpole I have the First Navy Jack. It replaces the Star-Spangled Banner (after a one-day interlude from my 34-star flag, on the Antietam anniversary).
The Star-Spangled Banner
The First Navy Jack is the current U.S. jack authorized by the United States Navy and is flown from the jackstaff of commissioned vessels of the U.S. Navy while moored pierside or at anchor. The design is traditionally regarded as that of the first U.S. naval jack flown in the earliest years of the republic.
In late 1775, as the first ships of the Continental Navy readied in the Delaware River, Commodore Esek Hopkins issued, in a set of fleet signals, an instruction directing his vessels to fly a “striped” jack and ensign. The exact design of these flags is unknown. The ensign was likely to have been the Grand Union Flag, and the jack a simplified version of the ensign: a field of 13 horizontal red and white stripes. However, the jack has traditionally been depicted as consisting of thirteen red and white stripes charged with an uncoiled rattlesnake and the motto “Dont Tread on Me.”
The rattlesnake had long been a symbol of resistance to the British in Colonial America. The phrase “Don’t tread on me” may have been coined during the American Revolutionary War, a variant perhaps of the snake severed in segments labelled with the names of the colonies and the legend “Join, or Die” which had appeared first in Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754, as a political cartoon reflecting on the Albany Congress.
The rattlesnake (specifically, the Timber Rattlesnake) is especially significant and symbolic to the American Revolution. The rattle has thirteen layers, signifying the original Thirteen Colonies. Additionally, the snake does not strike until provoked, a quality echoed by the phrase “Don’t tread on me.”
The First Navy Jack was first used in recent history during the United States’ Bicentennial year, 1976, when all commissioned naval vessels were directed to fly it while moored or anchored for the entire year, this in lieu of the standard fifty-star Jack of the United States.
In 1980, the Secretary of the Navy directed that the warship or fleet auxiliary with the longest active status would display the First Navy Jack until decommissioned or transferred to inactive service. Then the flag is then passed to the next ship in line.
My Imaginary Interview With Virginia High School Student Zach Comer
Zack Comer
Me: Nice flag, Zack. Can I see it?
[ZC holds up his brand new, creases-still-visible, $10 nylon flag]
ZC: Thanks. And before you say anything, this flag is about my heritage, not racism.
Me: Right, got it… Now, just to be clear, when you say your heritage, what do you mean exactly?
ZC: Huh?
Me: Your heritage means your identity. Your identity as a someone from the Comer family, or someone from Christiansburg, or someone from Virginia, or –
ZC: Yeah, right, someone from Virginia. Virginia was the capital of the Confederacy, and I’m a proud Virginian.
Me: Well, actually, Richmond was the capital, and, yes, it happened to be in Virginia, but anyway… you do realize that the flag style you’re holding was never the flag of the Confederacy, right?
ZC: What do you mean?
Me: I mean that the Confederacy had three national flags, and that wasn’t one of them.
ZC: Oh, yeah, right, ’cause this here is the rebel “battle flag.” Soldiers carried this flag.
Me: No. That flag is not the battle flag and, in that form, was only carried by a part of the rebel army.
ZC: In Virginia, though, right?
Me: No, in Tennessee. Of course, it was purposed as a naval jack as well…
ZC: Yeah! And Virginia’s navy would have flown it, right?
Me: Not exactly. You see, by the time that pattern became popular, all of Virginia’s coast was already in Union hands, and the Confederacy really didn’t have much of a navy to begin with.
ZC: Oh.
Me: You see, that flag wouldn’t have been seen in Virginia until early in the 20th century.
ZC: The 20th century? Uhhh…
Me: The 1900s.
ZC: During the Civil War?
Me: No, the Civil War ended in 1865. That flag was adopted first by the Ku Klux Klan, and then by segregationists.
ZC: Segrawho?
Me: Segregationists. White people who wanted to keep blacks from mixing with them in society. Nowadays, it’s been adopted by white supremacists. Zach, do you see a pattern here? That’s the heritage of the flag you’re holding. Is that your heritage?
ZC: My poppa’s got one in the club room that has a big mouth bass on it. Pretty cool.
Me: Yeah, that’s very nice.
[ZC raises the flag above his head, pivots and walks away.]
ZC: Woo Hoo! Southern rights, baby!
UMBC Flag of the Week: Malawi
Malawi
The flag of Malawi, located in the Commons Flag Court Row D5, was first adopted on July 6, 1964. The rising sun represents the dawn of hope and freedom for the continent of Africa (at the time the flag was designed, more countries in Africa were gaining independence from European rule). The black represents the indigenous people of the continent, the red symbolizes the blood of their struggle, and the green represents nature. The flag mirrors the Pan-African flag designed by Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association, with the red and black bands reversed and a red sun in the top. It also resembles the flag of the now-defunct Republic of Biafra.
Pan African flag
Republic of Biafra
In 2010, Malawi adopted a new flag, as proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party-led government, despite the fact that the idea was unpopular with much of the public. The stripes were altered from the previous flag to match the original Pan-African Flag layout, with the red stripe at the top, the black stripe in middle, and the green stripe at the bottom. The rising sun at the flag’s top was replaced with a full, centered white sun representing the economic progress Malawi has made since becoming independent. The opposition United Democratic Front announced that it would challenge the legitimacy of flag change in court. The flag was endorsed by the President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, who approved the flag change on July 29, 2010. The flag was pejoratively nicknamed “Bingu’s flag” by the majority of the nation who saw it as an illegitimate flag. Many objected to the new flag, perceiving its adoption as undemocratic.
Malawi, 2010-2012
On May 28, 2012, under new president Joyce Banda, Parliament voted to revert to the independence flag.
UMBC Flag of the Week: Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The flag of the Czech Republic, located in the Commons Flag Court Row B2, is the same as the flag of the former Czechoslovakia.
The first flag of Czechoslovakia in 1918 was based on the coat of arms of Bohemia, and was white over red. As this was identical to the flag of Poland, a blue triangle, taken from the blue strip of Slovakia’s flag, was added at the hoist in 1920 to create the flag of Czechoslovakia. When Germany invaded in 1939, the flag was banned and the nation governed by regions, with the Czech areas being called the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The flag of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was a horizontal tricolor of white, red, and blue (identical to the modern flag of Russia).
After liberation by the Allies in 1945, the nation and the flag was restored. During the 1992 negotiations on the split of Czechoslovakia, a clause forbidding the use of the state symbols of Czechoslovakia by either the Czech Republic or Slovakia was inserted into the legislation concerning the dissolution of the federation. The Czech Republic violated this clause, passing legislation overruling the previous agreement and keeping the use of the flag, but Slovakia hasn’t seemed to mind.
What’s On Jamie’s Flagpole Now: The Star-Spangled Banner
The Star-Spangled Banner
Today on my flagpole I have the Star-Spangled Banner, perhaps the most famous flag of all, as the anniversary of the Battle of Baltimore is approaching next week. It replaces the national flag of Kiribati.
Kiribati
The Star-Spangled Banner was, of course, the garrison flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the naval portion of the Battle of Baltimore in September of 1814. The sight of it inspired Francis Scott Key to write a poem, “Defence of Fort McHenry”, which, later set to the tune “To Anacreon in Heaven,” became the national anthem of the United States.
What remains of the original 30′ x 42′ flag is displayed at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington.
The Star-Spangled-Banner today.
The Smithsonian also has recovered snippets of the flag that were given away as patriotic mementos over the years:
Snippets of the flag.
As Baltimore prepared for an expected attack on the city by British forces, Fort McHenry’s commander, Major George Armistead, expressed desire for a very large flag to fly over the fort. General John S. Stricker and Commodore Joshua Barney then placed an order with a prominent Baltimorean flagmaker for two oversized American Flags. The larger of the two flags would become the Star-Spangled Banner, the largest battle flag ever flown at the time. The smaller of the two flags would be the Storm Flag, to be more durable and less prone to fouling in inclement weather.
Available documentation clearly shows that this flag was sewn by local flagmaker Mary Young Pickersgill under a government commission in 1813 at a cost of $405.90 (equivalent to $4,960 in 2015). Armistead specified “a flag so large that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance.’
The flag has fifteen horizontal red and white stripes, as well as fifteen white stars in the blue field. The two additional stars and stripes, approved by the United States Congress’s Flag Act of 1794, represent Vermont and Kentucky’s entrance into the Union. The stars are arranged in vertical rows, with five horizontal rows of stars, offset, each containing three stars. At the time, the practice of adding stripes (in addition to stars) with the induction of a new state had not yet been discontinued.
The flag originally measured 30 by 42 feet (9.1 by 12.8 m). Each of the fifteen stripes is 2 feet (0.61 m) wide, and each of the stars measures about 2 feet (0.61 m) in diameter. After the battle, the Armistead family occasionally gave away pieces of the flag as souvenirs and gifts; this cutting, along with deterioration from continued use, removed several feet of fabric from the flag’s fly end, and it now measures 30 by 34 feet (9.1 by 10.4 m). The flag currently has only fourteen stars—the fifteenth star was similarly given as a gift, but its recipient and current whereabouts are unknown.
The Flag was flown over the fort when 5,000 British soldiers and a fleet of 19 ships attacked Baltimore on September 12, 1814. The bombardment turned to Fort McHenry on the evening of September 13, and continuous shelling occurred for 25 hours under heavy rain. When the British ships were unable to pass the fort and penetrate the harbor, the attack was ended, and on the morning of September 14, when the battered flag still flew above the ramparts, it was clear that Fort McHenry remained in American hands.
This revelation was famously captured in poetry by Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer and amateur poet. Being held by the British on a truce ship in the Patapsco River, Key observed the battle from afar. When he saw the Garrison Flag still flying at dawn of the morning of the 14th, he composed a poem he originally titled Defiance of Ft. McHenry (though some accounts hold Defense of Fort McHenry). The poem would be put to the music of a common tune, re-titled The Star-Spangled Banner, and a portion of it would later be adopted as the United States National Anthem.
Since its arrival at the Smithsonian, the flag has undergone multiple preservation efforts.
UMBC Flag of the Week: New Zealand
New Zealand
The flag of New Zealand, located in the Commons Flag Court Row E2, is a defaced Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton, and four red stars with white borders to the right. (It is said to be “defaced” because it adds something to the standard blue ensign of the United Kingdom, there’s no negative connotation intended.)
The stars pattern represents the asterism within the constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross, a variation of which is also seen in the flag of New Zealand’s northern neighbor, Australia. (An asterism is a prominent pattern or group of stars, typically having a popular name but smaller than a constellation.)
New Zealand’s first flag, the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand, was adopted in 1834, six years before New Zealand became a British colony following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. After the formation of the colony in 1840, British ensigns began to be used. The current flag was designed and adopted for use on Colonial ships in 1869 following an Imperial statute and became New Zealand’s national flag in 1902.
For several decades there has been debate about changing the flag. A two-stage binding referendum on a flag change is planned to take place in 2015 and 2016. Alternative flag options were submitted between May 5 and July 16, 2015. Out of 10292 suggestions, the Flag Consideration Panel chose 40 which have be reduced to four designs for the first referendum.
UMBC Flag of the Week: Dominica
This week’s spotlighted flag is the flag of Dominica, and is located in the Commons Flag Court, row B5.
Adopted in 1978, the flag features the sisserou parrot, which also appears on the coat of arms. Called “The Pride of Dominica”, the sisserou figures prominently on the nation’s Coat of Arms, the National Flag, The Public Seal, The Mace of the House of Assembly and Dominica’s Honors for Meritorious Service to the Country. The Sisserou Parrot is protected and it is probably among the oldest species of Amazon parrot in the world, and is found only in Dominica.
The flag’s green field represents the lush vegetation of the island. The cross represents the Trinity and Christianity, with its three colors symbolizing the native Indians, the fertile soil, and the pure water. The 10 green five-pointed stars stand for the country’s 10 parishes: (St. Andrew, St. David, St. George, St. John, St. Joseph, St. Luke, St. Mark, St. Patrick, St. Paul, and St. Peter), while the red disc stands for social justice.
The sisserou parrot is sometimes colored either blue or purple (the parrot’s actual color). The use of purple makes the flag of Dominica the only flag of a sovereign state to include the color, unless you count the flag of Nicaragua, which features a rainbow and therefore, violet.
UMBC Tennis
Here at UMBC, the tennis team displays the national flags of the players’ home countries, which 1) is pretty cool and 2) shows how diverse the men’s and women’s teams are.
What’s On Jamie’s Flagpole Now: Kiribati
Kiribati
Today on my flagpole I have the national flag of Kiribati, an island nation in the central Pacific Ocean. It replaces the Republic of Georgia.
The Republic of Georgia
Kiribati became independent from the United Kingdom in 1979. Kiribati has been in the news in the past few years for two reasons, one past, and one future. Researchers now believe that Amelia Earhart may have been stranded, and died, on Nikumaroro in 1937, then known as Gardner Island, which is part of Kiribati’s Phoenix Islands. Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identified Kiribati as one of the six Pacific Island countries most threatened by rising sea-levels. The report claimed that, due to coastal erosion and freshwater contamination, Kiribati could become uninhabitable as early as 2050.
The islands of Kiribati have only have an aggregate area of 310 square miles, but they are spread over 1,351,000 square miles of water. They straddle the equator and the International Date Line is indented to bring the Line Islands in the same day as the Kiribati Islands. The permanent population is just over 100,000, half of whom live on Tarawa.
The flag of Kiribati is red in the upper half with a gold frigatebird flying over a gold rising sun, and the lower half is blue with three horizontal wavy white stripes representing the ocean and the three island groups (Gilbert, Phoenix and Line Islands). The 17 rays of the sun represent the 16 Gilbert Islands and Banaba.
Kiribati’s flag is an armorial banner, a flag having a design corresponding exactly to that of the shield in the coat of arms.
The coat of arms dates back to May 1937 when it was granted to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, as Kiribati and Tuvalu were then known. The shield was incorporated into the center of the fly half of a British Blue Ensign as the state ensign of the colony.
Shortly before independence was granted in 1979, a local competition was held to choose a new national flag, and a design based on the colonial coat of arms was submitted to the College of Arms. The College of Arms decided to modify this design. Both the golden frigatebird and the sun were enlarged to occupy more of the top of the flag, and the width of the blue and white wavy bands was reduced. The local people, however, insisted on the original design, in which the top and bottom halves of the flag were equal, the sun and local frigate bird small, and the various design elements outlined in black.
The new flag was hoisted during the independence day celebrations in the capital, Tarawa, on July 12, 1979.
What’s On Jamie’s Flagpole Now: Republic of Georgia
The Republic of Georgia
Today on my flagpole I have the national flag of the Republic of Georgia. It replaces the flag of Slovakia:
Slovakia
The national flag of the Republic of Georgia, known as the Five Cross Flag, was used by the Georgian patriotic movement following the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. However, the national flag adopted under the rule of President Eduard Shevardnadze (the former leader of Soviet Georgia and Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs) was the flag of the Democratic Republic of Georgia prior to Georgia’s absorption into the Soviet Union in 1923.
The flag of Georgia from 1991-2004
By the late 1990s, the Five Cross design had become widely known as ‘the Georgian historical national flag’ as vexillologists pointed out that the red-on-white Jerusalem cross pattern was the flag of Tblisi and the Kingdom of Georgia dating back to the 14th century.
A majority of Georgians, including the influential Catholicos-Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, supported the restoration of this flag and in 1999 the Parliament of Georgia passed a bill to change the flag. However, it was not endorsed by Shevardnadze, who remained the nation’s central political power. It was then adopted in the early 2000s by the main opposition party to Shevardnadze, the United National Movement, as a symbol of popular resistance to Shevardnadze’s rule during the ‘Rose Revolution.’
The Rose Revolution
The Rose Revolution
After thirty years in power, Shevardnadze was forced out in November 2003, and the Five Cross Flag was adopted by Parliament in January 2004.
In addition to the Jerusalem crosses, the fifth dissecting cross is, of course, the St. George’s Cross, most commonly associated with the flag of England:
England
St. George, unsurprisingly, is the patron saint of Georgia. The cross pattern was supposedly used in the 5th century by the Georgian king Vakhtang Gorgasali. In 13th century, Queen Tamar of Georgia used the St. George flag during her campaign against Seljuk Turks. The four Jerusalem crosses were later added by King George V of Georgia who drove out the Mongols from Georgia in 1334.
UMBC Flag Guy 