Editing First Navy Jack (section)

==Modern use==
===Shipboard===
[[File:Raising the First Naval Jack.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Raising of the "Navy Jack" for the first time at morning colors, on September 11, 2002, aboard the [[guided missile cruiser]] {{USS|Thomas S. Gates||2}} in honor of those killed in the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].]]

Modern use of the flag is usually traced to 1976, when the United States celebrated its [[United States Bicentennial|Bicentennial]]. All commissioned naval vessels were directed to fly the First Navy Jack for that [[calendar year]] while moored or anchored, and their commanding officers were authorized to retain and fly it thereafter.

The flag that had been used before, and afterward was the standard, was the fifty-star [[Jack of the United States|Union Jack]]. In 1980, [[Secretary of the Navy]] [[Edward Hidalgo]] directed that the warship or fleet auxiliary (e.g. a vessel designated as a "United States Ship" or "USS") with the longest active status shall display the First Navy Jack until decommissioned or transferred to inactive service.<ref name="USNHC">{{cite web |url= http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq122-1.htm |title= The U.S. Navy's First Jack |access-date= 2006-10-01 |url-status= dead |archive-url= http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20121004082423/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq122-1.htm |archive-date= 2012-10-04 }}</ref>

The status of the flag was changed on May 31, 2002. Navy Secretary [[Gordon R. England|Gordon England]] issued [[s:SECNAV Instruction 10520.6|SECNAV Instruction 10520.6]], directing all warships and auxiliaries of the U.S. Navy to fly the First Naval Jack as a "temporary substitution" for the [[Jack of the United States]] "during the [[War on Terrorism|Global War on Terrorism]]".<ref name="USNHC"/> The idea was based on a [[September 11 attacks|post-9/11]] suggestion from retired Captain Brayton Harris, who in 1975 and 1976 had been Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy for the bicentennial. Most vessels made the symbolic switch on September 11, 2002 during the first anniversary of the [[September 11, 2001 attacks|terrorist attacks]]. Not all US vessels flew the flag while moored or at anchor. Those that did not included commissioned vessels of the [[U.S. Coast Guard]] designated as "United States Coast Guard Cutter" ("USCGC"), USCG patrol boats, vessels of the [[National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration]], and predominantly civilian-crewed vessels of the U.S. Navy's [[Military Sealift Command]].

On February 21, 2019, the [[Chief of Naval Operations]], Admiral [[John M. Richardson (admiral)|John Richardson]], announced the blue Union Jack would be returned to nearly all commissioned warships of the U.S. Navy. He restored the 1980 practice of reserving the First Navy Jack to the longest active status warship. This order disregards the {{USS|Constitution}}, which technically is the oldest in the Navy but is used only for ceremonial purposes, and the {{Ship|USS|Pueblo|AGER-2|6}}, which was captured by [[North Korea]] in 1968 and is currently a museum ship though is still commissioned in the U.S. Navy.<ref name="military">{{cite web|url=https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/02/21/navy-ships-will-again-fly-union-jack-us-enters-great-power-competition.html|title=Navy Ships Will Again Fly the Union Jack as US Enters Great Power Competition|last=Harkins|first=Gina|date=February 21, 2019|website=Military.com|language=en|access-date=June 11, 2019}}</ref> The honor of "oldest ship" in the Fleet{{efn|In modern times (post-1980 in this case).}} was conferred on the following U.S. Navy vessels:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Ship name
! Type
! Commission date
! Decommission date
! Years as oldest
! Age{{efn|This column reflects the ship's age at the given decommissioning date}}
! class="unsortable"| Homeport
! Fate
|-
| {{USS|Dixie|AD-14}}
| [[Destroyer tender]]
| align="center" | April 25, 1940
| align="center" | June 15, 1982
| align="center" | 1981–1982
| align="center" | {{nts|42}}
| [[Subic Bay]], [[Philippines]]
| align="center" | Scrapped
|-
| {{USS|Prairie|AD-15}}
| Destroyer tender
| align="center" | August 5, 1940
| align="center" | March 26, 1993
| align="center" | 1982–1993
| align="center" | {{nts|52}}
| {{n/a}}
| align="center" | Scrapped
|-
| {{USS|Orion|AS-18}}
| [[Submarine tender]]
| align="center" | September 30, 1943
| align="center" | September 3, 1993
| align="center" | 1993
| align="center" | {{nts|50}}
| [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]], Rhode Island
| align="center" | Scrapped
|-
| {{USS|Sierra|AD-18}}
| Destroyer tender
| align="center" | March 20, 1944
| align="center" | October 15, 1993
| align="center" | 1993
| align="center" | {{nts|49}}
| [[Charleston, South Carolina]]
| align="center" | Scrapped
|-
| {{USS|Jason|AR-8}}
| [[Repair ship]]
| align="center" | June 19, 1944
| align="center" | June 24, 1995{{efn|USS ''Jason'' was the last remaining U.S. naval commissioned ship to serve in [[World War II]].}}
| align="center" | 1993-1995
| align="center" | {{nts|51}}
| [[Pearl Harbor]], Hawaii<br>[[San Diego]], California
| align="center" | Scrapped
|-
| {{USS|Mauna Kea|AE-22}}
| [[Ammunition ship]]
| align="center" | March 30, 1957
| align="center" | June 30, 1995
| align="center" | 1995
| align="center" | {{nts|38}}
| [[Concord, California|Concord]], California
| align="center" | Sunk as target
|-
| {{USS|Independence|CV-62}}
| [[Aircraft carrier]]
| align="center" | January 10, 1959
| align="center" | September 30, 1998
| align="center" | 1995–1998
| align="center" | {{nts|39}}
| [[Naval Station Norfolk]], Virginia<br>[[Naval Air Station North Island|San Diego]], California<br>[[United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka|Yokosuka]], [[Japan]]
| align="center" | Scrapped
|-
| {{USS|Kitty Hawk|CV-63}}
| Aircraft carrier
| align="center" | April 29, 1961
| align="center" | May 12, 2009
| align="center" | 1998–2009
| align="center" | {{nts|48}}
| [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard|Bremerton]], Washington
| align="center" | Undergoing scrapping
|-
| {{USS|Enterprise|CVN-65}}
| Aircraft carrier
| align="center" | November 25, 1961
| align="center" | December 1, 2012
| align="center" | 2009–2012
| align="center" | {{nts|51}}
| [[Naval Station Norfolk]], Virginia
| align="center" | Awaiting scrapping
|-
| {{USS|Denver|LPD-9}}
| [[Amphibious transport dock]]
| align="center" | October 26, 1968
| align="center" | August 14, 2014
| align="center" | 2012–2014
| align="center" | {{nts|45}}
| [[Sasebo, Nagasaki|Sasebo]], Japan
| align="center" | Sunk as target 
|-
| {{USS|Blue Ridge|LCC-19}}
| [[Amphibious command ship]]
| align="center" | November 14, 1970
| {{n/a}}
| align="center" | 2014–present
| align="center" | 53
| [[United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka|Yokosuka]], Japan
| align="center" | Active
|}

===Other U.S. Navy uses===
Since September 11, 2002, U.S. Navy installations and facilities ashore have been allowed but not required to fly the First Navy Jack from multi-halyard gaff-rigged flagpoles when the [[United States ensign]] is also flown.

The First Navy Jack has also been authorized for wear as a patch by sailors and naval officers on flight suits and certain versions of the [[Navy Working Uniform]] (NWU), including sailors and naval officers wearing the [[Army Combat Uniform]] (ACU) while [[Individual augmentee|assigned to and serving with Army units]], at the discretion of the local Army commander.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.public.navy.mil/ia/Documents/NAV10116.txt|title=SPECIAL UNIFORM SITUATIONS FOR NAVY PERSONNEL ASSIGNED TO AND SERVING WITH AN ARMY UNIT|author=office of the [[Chief of Naval Operations]]|publisher=[[VADM MARK FERGUSON]]|access-date=2013-07-31|archive-date=2014-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517114333/http://www.public.navy.mil/ia/Documents/NAV10116.txt|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg102/Pages/DeployedUSSSampsonFC2earnsawardinAfghanistan.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005222808/http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg102/Pages/DeployedUSSSampsonFC2earnsawardinAfghanistan.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 5, 2012|title=Deployed USS Sampson FC2 earns award in Afghanistan|author=David Tomiyama|publisher=Provincial Reconstruction Team Khost Public Affairs|access-date=2012-02-06}}</ref>  For the NWU and ACU, the patch is typically worn on the opposite sleeve as the U.S. flag.

This First Navy Jack, along with the [[Serapis flag]], is also featured on the crest of the {{Sclass|Arleigh Burke|destroyer|0}} guided missile destroyer {{USS|John Paul Jones|DDG-53|6}}.<ref>See the patch and description on the official website at [http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg53/Pages/ourShip.aspx http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg53/Pages/ourShip.aspx] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615171936/http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg53/Pages/ourShip.aspx |date=2011-06-15 }}</ref>

During the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–14)|War in Afghanistan]], U.S. Navy sailors and officers assigned to the [[International Security Assistance Force]] (ISAF) were authorized to wear the First Navy Jack on their [[MultiCam]]-patterned [[Army Combat Uniform]] (ACU) on the right sleeve, below the U.S. flag.
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.isaf.nato.int/images/stories/File/CSM%20Hill%20Docs/us%20national%20standards%20hq%20isaf%2018%20jul%2012.pdf|title=US National Standards, HQ, International Security Assistance Force|author=US National Support Element|publisher=Headquarters, [[International Security Assistance Force]]|access-date=2013-07-31|archive-date=2013-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221174903/http://www.isaf.nato.int/images/stories/File/CSM%20Hill%20Docs/us%20national%20standards%20hq%20isaf%2018%20jul%2012.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>