US Navy Pulls Out Symbolic Flag for First Time in 17 Years As New Threats Emerge
After nearly 17 years, the Union Jack is making a comeback — all thanks to a shifting global military landscape.
The Union Jack is the traditional blue-and-white flag that adorned our naval ships until Sept. 11, 2002. It features 50 white stars and a blue background. According to a news release from the Navy, it traces its lineage to 1777.
However, on the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Union Jack was replaced with the first Navy Jack — a flag of white and red strips with a rattlesnake emblazoned with “Don’t Tread on Me” — for the entirety of the war on terror.
While remnants of that war remain, the mission of the Navy has changed significantly to a “great power competition” at sea, according to the Navy Times — prompting the change back to the Union Jack.
“U.S. Navy ships and craft will return to flying the union jack effective June 4, 2019,” a statement from the Navy read. “The date for reintroduction of the union jack commemorates the greatest naval battle in history: the Battle of Midway, which began June 4, 1942.”
“Make no mistake: we have entered a new era of competition. We must recommit to the core attributes that made us successful at Midway: integrity, accountability, initiative and toughness,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in the statement.
“For more than 240 years, the union jack, flying proudly from jackstaffs aboard U.S. Navy warships, has symbolized these strengths.”
“The union jack is deeply connected to our heritage and our rise as a global nation with a global Navy,” Richardson continued.
“The Navy is a symbol that projects American values to the world. Just as the Navy embodies the values and principles that we hold dear, our very appearance in port and at anchor communicates important messages.”
There will be one exception, however.
“The Navy will re-establish the custom in which the commissioned ship in active status having the longest total period in active status, other than USS Constitution, will display the first Navy jack until the ship is decommissioned or transferred to inactive status,” the statement said.
“As of June 4, 2019, the only warship authorized to fly the first Navy jack is USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19).”
The change, according to Richardson, celebrates nearly two-and-a-half centuries of American naval power.
“A version of the Union Jack flew when Commodore (Matthew) Perry formally established relations with the Empire of Japan,” Richardson said, according to Military.com.
“A version of the Union Jack flew in harbors around the world as the Great White Fleet circumnavigated the globe. A version of the Union Jack flew in ports throughout the Pacific as the Navy island-hopped its way across the vast ocean, and in the Atlantic as the Navy supported operations to liberate the European continent.
“For more than 240 years, the Union Jack, flying proudly from jackstaffs aboard U.S. Navy warships, has symbolized these strengths,” he added.
It is indeed a different era, both from the days of Commodore Perry to the height of the war on terror. Today, the Navy is just as likely to be making headlines from counterterrorism operations in the Middle East as it is from Freedom of Navigation Operations aimed at limiting China’s territorial land grabs in the South China Sea.
It was time for the Union Jack to make a return — and the fact that the switchover is going to happen on the anniversary of one of our greatest military victories makes it all the sweeter.
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