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Commissioning pennant
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==Paying-off pennants== [[File:HMS Dumbarton Castle displays her Paying Off Pennant as she enters Portsmouth Harbour for the last time MOD 45147584.jpg|thumbnail|{{HMS|Dumbarton Castle}} paying off]] It is the custom in many navies for a ship which is "paying off" to wear an extremely long commissioning pennant, which is normally at least the length of the ship, and the length of which reflects the length of service. This is in contrast to the modern practice of using pennants of not more than one or one-and-a-half metres for convenience. Formerly a ship "paid off" each time she returned home after a commission overseas: the term refers to the fact that sailors were not paid until the ship returned home, to avoid desertion. The bible of Royal Navy traditions and slang, ''[[A.T.L. Covey-Crump|Covey-Crump]]'', emphasises: :"It should be borne in mind that the commission referred to is the length of time the ship's company has been abroad, not the ship herself: when a ship recommissions abroad a fresh commission is started; thus a commission of longer than 2ΒΎ years is exceptional."<ref name="Crump">{{cite web |url=http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/training-and-people/rn-life/navy-slang/covey-crump-a-to-aye/p-a-l-o-putty/index.htm |title=P. A. L. O - Putty (Pendant) |work=[[Royal Navy]] |publisher=Ministry of Defence | archive-date=2011-03-20| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320115129/http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/training-and-people/rn-life/navy-slang/covey-crump-a-to-aye/p-a-l-o-putty/index.htm}}</ref> This custom is maintained in the [[United States Navy]], where the paying-off pennant is known as the "homeward-bound pennant". Nevertheless, present usage in the Royal Navy has degenerated to using paying-off pennants only as part of a ship's decommissioning ceremony.
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