There are times during the year that the ensign isflown at half-mast, or half-staff ashore. This is theinternationally recognized symbol of mourning.Normally, the flag is half-masted on receivinginformation of the death of one of the officials orofficers listed in U.S. Navy Regulations. Notificationmay be through the news media or by official message.The United States honors its war dead on Memorial Dayby flying the flag at half-mast from 0800 until the lastgun of a 21-minute gun salute that begins at noon (oruntil 1220 if no gun salute is rendered).If the ensign is flown from the flagstaff and ishalf-masted, the union jack is also half-masted. Inhalf-masting the national ensign, it will, if not alreadyhoisted, first be hoisted to the peak and then lowered tothe half-mast position. Before lowering from thehalf-mast position, the ensign is hoisted to the peak,then lowered ceremoniously. Distinctive marks, such ascommission or command pennants, are not half-mastedexcept when the ship’s commanding officer or the unitcommander dies.U.S. Navy Regulations stipulates that when any shipunder United States registry or the registry of a nationformally recognized by the United States salutes a U.S.Navy ship by dipping its flag (hauled halfway down andthen raised), the courtesy is to be returned dip for dip. AU.S. Navy ship never dips to a foreign ship (flag) first.U.S. naval ships (USNS) of the Military SealiftCommand do not dip the national ensign to Navy shipssince they are public ships of the United States.Formal recognition of a foreign country does notmean that diplomatic relations must exist. The fact thatdiplomatic relations have been severed does not meanthat the United States no longer recognizes the existenceof the state or the government concerned. However, theUnited States does not return the dip to countries such asAlbania, North Korea, Vietnam, and South Yemen. If indoubt, ask the duty Signalman.UNION JACKThe union jack is the rectangular blue part of theUnited States flag containing the stars. It is shown infigure 4-18. It symbolizes the union of the states of theUnited States. Each star represents a state.When a naval ship is in port or at anchor, the unionjack is flown from the jackstaff from 0800 to sunset. Inaddition to flying from the jackstaff, the union jack ishoisted at the yardarm to indicate that a generalcourt-martial or a court of inquiry is in session.The union jack is flown in boats as follows:1. When a diplomatic official of the United States,at or above the rank of charge d’affaires, isembarked in a boat of the U.S. Navy and iswithin the waters of the country which thatperson represents2. When a governor general, or a governorcommissioned as such by the President, isembarked in a boat in an official capacity and theboat is within the governor’s area of jurisdiction(for example, the Governor of the VirginIslands)When displayed from the jackstaff, the union jack ishalf-masted if the national ensign is half-masted. It israised and lowered in the same manner as the nationalensign. The union jack is not dipped when the nationalensign is dipped.The union jack is issued in several sizes; but, whenflown at the jack staff, it must be the same size as theunion of the ensign flown at the flagstaff. To make sureit is not flown upside down, always have the single pointof the stars pointing toward the sky.4-22UNION JACKBMRF0418Figure 4-18.—Union jack.Student Notes:
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