The First Navy Jack was the
naval jack
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 pu ...
of the United States from 1975 to 1976 and again from 2002 to 2019. It was authorized by the
U.S. Navy and was flown from the
jackstaff of commissioned vessels of the U.S. Navy while moored pierside or at anchor. Since then, it is used only as a naval jack by the oldest active warship in the U.S. Navy. The design is purported to be that of the first U.S. naval
jack, flown soon after independence.
The First Navy Jack was replaced as the U.S. naval jack by the U.S.
Union Jack
The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags.
It is sometimes a ...
(consisting of white stars on a blue field, not to be confused with the
flag of the United Kingdom
The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag.
The design of the Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union 1801, which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in pe ...
, also commonly called "the Union Jack") on June 4, 2019, by order of the
Chief of Naval Operations
The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...
.
History
In late 1775, as the first ships of the
Continental Navy
The Continental Navy was the navy of the United Colonies and United States from 1775 to 1785. It was founded on October 13, 1775 by the Continental Congress to fight against British forces and their allies as part of the American Revolutionary ...
readied in the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...
, Commodore
Esek Hopkins
Commodore (rank), Commodore Esek Hopkins (April 26, 1718February 26, 1802) was a Continental Navy officer and privateer. He served as the only commander-in-chief of the Continental navy during the American Revolutionary War, when the Continental ...
issued an instruction directing his vessels to fly a "striped" jack and
ensign
Ensign most often refers to:
* Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality
* Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank
Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to:
Places
* Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada
* Ensign, Ka ...
. The exact design of these flags is unknown. But, since about 1880, this jack has traditionally been depicted as consisting of thirteen red and white stripes charged with an uncoiled
rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genus, genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting sm ...
and the motto "
Dont Tread on Me" ; this design appeared in a color plate in Admiral
George Henry Preble's influential ''History of the Flag of the United States''.
In 1778,
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
and
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
wrote a letter to the Ambassador of the
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...
, thanking him for allowing entry of revolutionary ships into Sicilian ports. The letter describes the new flag of the colonies according to the
1777 Flag Resolution, but also describes a flag of "South Carolina, a rattlesnake, in the middle of the thirteen stripes."
The rattlesnake had long been a symbol in the colonies of resistance and defiance to
the Crown
The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
. The phrase ''"
Don't Tread on Me"'' may have been coined during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, a variant perhaps of an earlier image. A snake severed in segments and labelled with the names of the colonies and the legend "
Join, or Die
''Join, or Die.'' is a political cartoon showing the disunity in the American colonies, originally in the context of the French and Indian War in 1754. Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the original publication by ''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' ...
", had first been published in
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
's ''
Pennsylvania Gazette
''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' was one of the United States' most prominent newspapers from 1728 until 1800. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, the newspaper served as a voice for colonial opposition to Kingdom of Great Britain, ...
'' in 1754, as a
political cartoon
A political cartoon, also known as an editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically co ...
reflecting on the
Albany Congress
The Albany Congress (June 19 – July 11, 1754), also known as the Albany Convention of 1754, was a meeting of representatives sent by the legislatures of seven of the British colonies in British America: Connecticut Colony, Connecticut, Prov ...
.
The rattlesnake (specifically, the
Timber Rattlesnake
The timber rattlesnake (''Crotalus horridus''), also known Common name, commonly as the canebrake rattlesnake and the banded rattlesnake,Albert Hazen WWright AH, species:Anna Allen WWright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States a ...
) is especially significant and symbolic to the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. The rattle has thirteen layers, signifying the original
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America.
The Thirteen C ...
. Additionally, the snake does not strike until provoked, a characteristic expressed by the phrase "
Don't tread on me" (see
Gadsden flag).
Typically the flag's rattlesnake is depicted with red scales on its back, but some have depicted the snake as all-gold.
Modern use
Shipboard
Modern use of the flag is usually traced to 1976, when the United States celebrated its
Bicentennial __NOTOC__
A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to:
Europe
* French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...
. All commissioned naval vessels were directed to fly the First Navy Jack for that
calendar year
A calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day, and thus consists of a whole number of days.
The Gregorian calendar year, which is in use as civil calendar in ...
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
Union Jack
The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags.
It is sometimes a ...
. In 1980,
Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...
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.
The status of the flag was changed on May 31, 2002. Navy Secretary
Gordon England issued
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
Global War on Terrorism".
The idea was based on a
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
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
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploration ...
, and predominantly civilian-crewed vessels of the U.S. Navy's
Military Sealift Command
The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all U ...
.
On February 21, 2019, the
Chief of Naval Operations
The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...
, 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 , which technically is the oldest in the Navy but is used only for ceremonial purposes, and the , which was captured by
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
in 1968 and is currently a museum ship though is still commissioned in the U.S. Navy.
The honor of "oldest ship" in the Fleet was conferred on the following U.S. Navy vessels:
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
The Army Combat Uniform (ACU) is the current combat uniform worn by the United States Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force and some elements of the U.S. Coast Guard. Within the Air Force and Space Force, it is referred to as the OCP ( Op ...
(ACU) while
assigned to and serving with Army units, at the discretion of the local Army commander. 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 guided missile destroyer .
During the
War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
*Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire
* Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...
, U.S. Navy sailors and officers assigned to the
International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...
(ISAF) were authorized to wear the First Navy Jack on their
MultiCam
MultiCam is a Military camouflage, camouflage pattern designed for use in a wide range of environments and conditions which was developed and is produced by American company Crye Precision. The pattern has found extensive adoption globally. Var ...
-patterned
Army Combat Uniform
The Army Combat Uniform (ACU) is the current combat uniform worn by the United States Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force and some elements of the U.S. Coast Guard. Within the Air Force and Space Force, it is referred to as the OCP ( Op ...
(ACU) on the right sleeve, below the U.S. flag.
Non-military uses
Like other
snake flags, the First Navy Jack has been used by non-Navy people in protest or commemoration. For example, opponents to a
smoking ban
Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor employ ...
in
Franklin, Indiana, flew Navy Jacks outside their homes and businesses. A First Navy Jack flag was also placed at a makeshift memorial on
Boylston Street
Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and its western suburbs. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown, Boston, Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Public Garden (Boston) ...
after the
Boston Marathon bombing
The Boston Marathon bombing, sometimes referred to as simply the Boston bombing, was an Islamist domestic terrorist attack that took place during the 117th annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarna ...
.
See also
*
Ensign of the United States
*
Bibliography of early United States naval history
Notes
References
External links
*
CDR Michel T. Poirier, "A Brief History of the U.S. Navy Jack", in ''Undersea Warfare''{{US Navy navbox
Continental Navy
Navy Jack
Military flags of the United States
Naval flags
United States Navy traditions
Jacks (flags)
Snakes in art
Flags displaying animals