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Flag officer
Senior military officer entitled to fly a flag of rank From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command.
Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways:
- In many countries, a flag officer is a senior officer of the navy, specifically one holding any of the admiral ranks; the term may or may not include the rank of commodore.
- In some countries, such as the United States, India, and Bangladesh, the designation may apply in all armed forces, not just in the navy. This means generals can also be considered flag officers.
- In most Arab armies, liwa (Arabic: لواء), which can be translated as "flag officer", is a specific rank, equivalent to a major general. However, "ensign" is debatably a more exact literal translation of the word. In principle, a liwa commands several units called "flags" or "ensigns" (i.e. brigades, also called liwa).
- Russian navies refer to the approximate equivalent of a British Royal Navy flag officer as a flagman (флагман).[1] Before the formation of the Soviet Navy in 1918, the Imperial Russian Navy also had officers with the function of a flag-ofitser (флаг-офицер), subordinate to a flagman and especially charged with adjutant duties and signals.[2]
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General usage
The generic title of flag officer is used in many modern navies and coast guards to denote those who hold the rank of rear admiral or its equivalent and above, also called "flag ranks". In some navies, this also includes the rank of commodore. Flag officer corresponds to the generic terms general officer, used by land and some air forces to describe all grades of generals, and air officer, used by other air forces to describe all grades of air marshals and air commodores.
A flag officer sometimes is a junior officer, called a flag lieutenant or flag adjutant, attached as a personal adjutant or aide-de-camp.
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Canada
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In the Canadian Armed Forces, a flag officer (French: officier général, "general officer") is an admiral, vice admiral, rear admiral, or commodore, the naval equivalent of a general officer of the army or air force. It is a somewhat counterintuitive usage of the term, as only flag officers in command of commands or formations actually have their own flags (technically a commodore has only a broad pennant, not a flag), and army and air force generals in command of commands or formations also have their own flags, but are not called flag officers. Base commanders, usually full colonels, have a pennant that flies from the mast or flagpole on the base, when resident, or on vehicles that carry them.[3]
A flag officer's rank is denoted by a wide strip of gold braid on the cuff of the service dress tunic, one to four gold maple leaves over a crossed sword and baton, all beneath a royal crown, on epaulettes and shoulder boards; and two rows of gold oak leaves on the peak of the service cap.[4] Since the unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, a flag officer's dress tunic had a single broad stripe on the sleeve and epaulettes.
In May 2010 the naval uniform dark dress tunic was adjusted—exterior epaulettes were removed, reverting to the sleeve ring and executive curl-rank insignia used by most navies. commodores' uniforms display a broad stripe, and each succeeding rank receives an additional sleeve ring. There are no epaulettes on the exterior of the tunic, but they are still worn on the uniform shirt underneath.[5]
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India
In the Indian Armed Forces, it is applied to brigadiers, major generals, lieutenant generals and generals in the Army; commodores, rear admirals, vice admirals and admirals in the Navy; and air commodores, air vice marshals, air marshals and air chief marshals in the Air Force. Each of these flag officers are designated with a specific flag. India's honorary ranks (five star ranks) are field marshal in the Army, Marshal of the Indian Air Force in the Air Force and admiral of the fleet in the Navy. A similar equivalence is applied to senior police officers of rank Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Inspector General (IG), Additional Director General (ADG) and Director General (DG).
United Kingdom
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In the United Kingdom, the term is only used for the Royal Navy, with there being a more specific distinction between a "flag officer" and an "officer of flag rank". Formerly, all officers promoted to flag rank were considered to be "flag officers".[6] The term is still widely used to refer to any officer of flag rank. Present usage is that rear admirals and above are officers of flag rank, but only those officers who are authorised to fly a flag are formally called "flag officers" and have different flags for different ranks of admiral.[7]
Of the 39 officers of flag rank in the Royal Navy in 2006, very few were "flag officers" with entitlement to fly a flag. For example, a Commander-in-Chief Fleet flies an admiral's flag whether ashore or afloat and is a "flag officer". The chief of staff (support), a rear admiral, is not entitled to fly a flag and is an "officer of flag rank" rather than a "flag officer". List of fleets and major commands of the Royal Navy lists most admirals who were "flag officers". A flag officer's junior officer is often known as "Flags".[citation needed] Flag Officers in the Royal Navy are considered as Rear-Admirals and above.[8]
Equivalent ranks in the British Army and Royal Marines are called general officer rather than flag officers, and those in the Royal Air Force (as well as the rank of air commodore) are called air officers, although all are entitled to fly flags of rank.[citation needed]
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United States
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Captain was the highest rank in the United States Navy from its beginning in 1775 until 1857 the early US republic felt that the title Admiral was "too royal" for a country without a king.[9] By 1852, the Navy had the ranks of Captain, Senior Captain and Commander-in-Chief of a Squadron.[10]
From at least the early 1800s, commodores flew broad pennants as a sign of their command, an early example of this was Commodore William Bainbridge who flew one from his command the USS President in 1808.. These pennants were usually swallow-tailed and blue after the tradition of the British Royal Navy.[11]
In1857, Congress created the temporary rank of flag officer, which was bestowed on senior Navy captains who were assigned to lead a squadron of vessels in addition to command of their own ship.[12] This temporary usage gave way to the permanent ranks of commodore and rear admiral in 1862. The 1857 regulations allowed for a solid color rectangular flag to indicate a flag officer - blue represented the senior flag officer, red for the next most senior if two or more were present and white the third most senior.[13] Otherwise a flag officer flew a blue flag and this would continue for Commodores until 1865.
Arguably the most famous naval figure of the US Civil War, David Farragut, was one of the first Flag Officers and in 1862 after capturing New Orleans, Congress made him a Rear Admiral.[14] After the Battle of Mobile Bay he was made a Vice Admiral and finally after the war ended a full Admiral.
In 1865, the Navy regulations specified the flags of Vice and Rear Admirals. A Vice admiral was to have a blue flag with three white stars arranged in an equilateral triangle and a Rear admiral will have two stars arranged vertically. And a Commodore's broad pennant will hold one white star on a blue pennant.[15]
From 1865 until 1915 no officer was promoted to Admiral except in special circumstances. The Congress felt that the rank of Admiral was a reward for gallantry in battle and not something the country should enshrine permanently.[16] After the Civil War, there were only two men promoted to Admiral - George Dewey in 1899 and David Porter in 1870.
The 1876 Signal Book showed that there was a four stars in a diamond shape Admiral's flag (for Porter) as well as red and white flags for both Rear Admirals and Commodores to indicate subordinates as with the previous Flag Officer flags of 1857.[17]
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In 1940, the Navy dropped the red and white subordinate flags for Rear Admirals and Commodores.[18] And in 1944 when the Navy created the rank of Fleet Admiral, they also authorized a new blue flag with five white stars arranged in a pentagon shape.[19] The most recent change was in 1948, when the Chief of Naval Operations created white flags for non-line officers such as medical, supply, chaplains, engineers, etc. The new flags would be for ranks of Rear Admiral (Lower Half) through Admiral. Commodore rank was retired in 1948 as was an future promotions to Fleet Admiral. Both Rear Admiral (Lower Half) and Rear Admirals used a two-star flag.[18]
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At about the same time, the US Coast Guard was also developing new flags for their Admirals. The USCG had expanded greatly during World War II and was in the post-war was allowed a full admiral for its commandant. Before the war there are no reliable records as to whether the few Rear Admirals the USCG had were allowed flag officer flags or not. In 1945 the Coast Guard took the flags of the US Navy's admirals and added a white version of their official seal over crossed anchors.[20]
In 1979, the US Coast Guard created a flag for the Commandant and teh Vice Commandant that were similar to the Chief of Naval Operations and Vice Chief of Naval Operations. And then in 1985, both the Navy and the USCG changed Rear Admiral Lower Half to one star to match the O-7 Brigadier General ranks of the other services.[21]
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The term "flag officer" is still in use today, explicitly defined as an officer of the U.S. Navy or Coast Guard serving in or having the grade of admiral, vice admiral, rear admiral, or rear admiral (lower half),[22] equivalent to general officers of an army.
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, the term "flag officer" generally is applied to all general officers authorized to fly their own command flags—i.e., brigadier general, or pay grade O-7, and above.[23][24] As a matter of law, Title 10 of the United States Code makes a distinction between general officers and flag officers (general officer for the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force; flag officer for the Navy and Coast Guard).[22] Non-naval officers usually fly their flags from their headquarters, vessels, or vehicles, typically only for the most senior officer present.[25][26]
In the United States all flag and general officers must be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Each subsequent promotion requires renomination and re-approval. For the Navy, each flag officer assignment is usually limited to a maximum of two years, followed by either reassignment, reassignment and promotion, or retirement.[27]
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