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Jack (flag)

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File:Dutch submarine HNLMS Walrus (SSK S802).jpg
Royal Netherlands Navy jack
File:Naval jack hoisted.jpg
The US naval jack (2002–2019) being hoisted on Template:USS's jackstaff in December 2001
File:Irish Naval jack.JPG
Naval jack of the Irish Naval Service

A jack is a flag flown from a short jackstaff at the bow (front) of a vessel, while the ensign is flown on the stern (rear). Jacks on bowsprits or foremasts appeared in the 17th century. A country may have different jacks for different purposes, especially when (as in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands) the naval jack is forbidden to other vessels. The United Kingdom has an official civil jack; the Netherlands has several unofficial ones. In some countries, ships of other government institutions may fly the naval jack, e.g. the ships of the United States Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the case of the US jack. Certain organs of the UK's government have their own departmental jacks. Commercial or pleasure craft may fly the flag of an administrative division (state, province, land) or municipality at the bow. Merchant ships may fly a house flag. Yachts may fly a club burgee or officer's flag or the owner's private signal at the bow. Practice may be regulated by law, custom, or personal judgment.

EtymologyEdit

"Jack" occupies 6 pages of the complete second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and the use of the word in English goes back to the 14th century, appearing as a forename in Piers Plowman. Quite early on it was used as a name for a peasant or "a man of the lower orders".<ref name=OED2Jack>Template:Cite OED2</ref> It continued the low class connotations in phrases such as "jack tar" for a common seaman, "every man jack," or the use of jack for the knave in cards. The diminutive form is also seen in "Jack of all trades, master of none", where Jack implies a poor tradesman, possibly not up to journeyman standard. The term was taken into inanimate objects and denoted a small (or occasionally inferior) component: jack-pit (a small mine shaft), jackplug (single pronged, low current), jack-shaft (intermediate or idler shaft), jack (in bowling: the small ball) or jack-engine (a donkey or barring engine). Incidentally, a jack is a garment for the upper body (quotes from 1375 onwards), a jacket is derived from this and is a small jack; not the other way around. As a further example of this usage, in 1686 Robert Plot writing about gins (i.e. horse engines) to pump water out of mines says: "they draw it [the water] up by Gin, which is made bigger, or less ... the less they call a Jack".<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

As a flag, "jack" followed this usage. A jack flag was a small flag, used to distinguish it from the large ensign or pennants. The OED mentions the theory of its derivation from James I or from a leathern jacket but dismisses both: "neither of these conjectures covers the early use of the word". Originally, the jack would have been flown from the bowsprit topmast head: "You are alsoe for this present service to keepe in yor Jack at yor Boultspritt end"<ref name=OED2Jack /> (sailing instructions 1633 as quoted in OED2). In 1667 Samuel Pepys, naval administrator and diarist, recorded the Dutch taking the Template:HMS and a man "struck her flag and jacke" — clearly two different things. By 1692 the jackstaff had been developed to fly the jack: "Jack staff and Jack".<ref>Template:Cite OED2</ref>

UsageEdit

File:B-585 Sankt-Peterburg in 2010.jpg
Russian Navy submarine Sankt Peterburg displaying the Russian naval jack at the bow and the naval ensign at the stern

A naval jack is usually flown when the ship is not under way, but is moored or at anchor, or when it is dressed overall on special occasions. The Union Jack of the Royal Navy must be run up when the first line is ashore when coming alongside. The same regulations are applied by the Royal Canadian Navy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref>

In the United States, the First Navy Jack is also used as embroidered sleeve patches by the US Navy on its uniforms.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Shapes and designsEdit

Naval jacks are usually rectangular, often square, and smaller than the national ensign or war flag. Some countries fly a smaller version of the national or war flag, or its canton on its own. France and some other countries use the same flag or ensign for all purposes, civil or military, and also as their naval jack. Japan and some other countries with civil and war ensigns of different designs fly the civil ensign as a jack and the war ensign at the ship's stern. A shortened, square version of the national flag is used by some countries. A larger group of jacks show the country's national coat of arms, either as a banner of arms, or as a badge displayed on the field. Most countries have chosen a completely different design for their naval jacks, often with some national or maritime symbol, and usually with the same colours as in their flags.

War ensign as jackEdit

Countries that use their war ensign also as a jack will usually fly a smaller version at the bow. {{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}

War flag as jackEdit

  • Flag of the People's Liberation Army.svg

    Naval jack of China

Square version of national flag as jackEdit

  • Naval Jack of Belgium.svg

    Naval jack of Belgium

  • Naval Jack of Norway.svg

    Naval jack of Norway

  • Naval Jack of Romania.svg

    Naval jack of Romania (former)

File:Indiensstelling Fregat Hr. Ms. Tjerk Hiddes bij NDSM werf. De Geus waait hal, Bestanddeelnr 920-6049.jpg
Dutch naval jack onboard HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes

Canton of national ensign as jackEdit

  • Naval Jack of Chile.svg

    Naval jack of Chile

  • Naval Jack of Greece.svg

    Naval jack of Greece

  • Star in Blue Box - Flag of Liberia.svg

    Naval jack of Liberia

  • Naval Jack of the Republic of China.svg

    Naval jack of the Republic of China

  • Flag of Tonga (1862-1866).svg

    Naval jack of Tonga

  • US Naval Jack.svg

    Naval jack of the United States, also flown by other federal government and civilian ships

National coat of arms as jackEdit

{{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}

National flag as jackEdit

National flag in canton as jackEdit

{{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}

Jacks of special designEdit

{{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}

Cross and Saltire JacksEdit

  • Naval Jack of Bulgaria.svg

    Naval jack of Bulgaria

  • Naval Jack of Estonia.svg

    Naval jack of Estonia

  • Naval Ensign of Georgia.svg

    Naval jack of Georgia from 2004 to 2009

  • Naval Jack of Latvia.svg

    Naval jack of Latvia

  • Naval Jack of Russia.svg

    Naval jack of Russia

Union jacksEdit

File:HMS Wasa 1903.jpg
Union Jack of Sweden and Norway flown by Swedish armored cruiser Wasa in 1903
File:Norwegian gunboat Sleipner at Kiel June 1895.jpg
Norwegian gunboat Sleipner at Kiel, June 1895, flying the Union Jack of Norway and Sweden

United or confederated states have in many cases adopted a jack representing their national union. The best known is the Union Jack of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, composed in 1606 by joining the flags of England and Scotland. When the Kingdom of Ireland merged with Great Britain in 1801, a red saltire (Saint Patrick's Cross) was added to form the present Union Flag. The design of the UK's Union Jack probably inspired later jacks of other states, such as Russia and the Union Jack of Sweden and Norway. The Russian jack in its turn inspired the jacks of Bulgaria, Estonia, and Latvia.Template:Citation needed

From 1777 to 1975, 1977 to September 2002, and June 2019 to the present, the United States Navy has flown a "union jack", consisting of the blue canton with white stars from the US national ensign. In 1975 and 1976, and then again from September 11, 2002, to June 4, 2019, the US Navy flew the First Navy Jack, allegedly used in 1775 and 1776, with a rattlesnake and the motto "DONT TREAD ON ME" [sic] superimposed on thirteen alternating red and white stripes.

The Confederate States of America followed the same pattern for its first naval jack (1861–1863), using the canton of its first naval ensign, with seven stars forming a circle on a "medium blue" field. Later versions had up to fifteen stars. The second Confederate naval jack was a rectangular cousin of the Confederate army's battle flag and was in use from 1863 until 1865.

The Union Jack of Sweden and Norway (1844–1905) was a rectangular cross flag divided per saltire, combining the national colours of Sweden (hoist and fly) and Norway (top and bottom). The naval jack was also used as a flag for the common diplomatic representations abroad.

  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg

    The Union Jack of the United Kingdom

  • US Naval Jack.svg

    Naval jack of the United States from 1960 to 1975, 1977 to 2002, and 2019 to the present (identical to the canton in the national flag or ensign of that period)

  • Naval jack of the Confederate States of America (1861-1863).svg

    Naval jack of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1863

  • Union Jack of Sweden and Norway (1844-1905).svg

    Naval jack of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to 1905

  • Battle flag of the Confederate States of America (light blue) (2-3).svg

    Naval jack of the Confederate States from 1863 to 1865

See alsoEdit

NotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

Further readingEdit

  • Album des pavillons nationaux et des marques distinctives. National flags and distinctive markings, Service hydrographique et océanographique de la marine, Brest, 2000

External linksEdit

Template:Sister project

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