page_title: First Navy Jack
section_title: Shipboard
hierarchical_section_title: First Navy Jack / Modern use / Shipboard
caption_attribution_description: English: Naval Station Pascagoula, Miss. (Sep. 11, 2002) -- Operations Specialist 2nd Class Michael McKenna from Providence, R.I., raises the &#8220;Navy Jack&#8221; for the first time at morning colors, on Sept. 11, 2002, aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Thomas S. Gates (CG 51). Under direction of the Secretary of the Navy, Gordon R. England, all U.S. Navy ships will fly the &#8220;Navy Jack&#8221; in place of the &#8220;Union Jack&#8221; for the duration of the war on terrorism. The &#8220;Navy Jack&#8221; is a flag consisting of a rattlesnake superimposed across thirteen horizontal alternating red and white stripes, with the motto, &#8220;Don&#8217;t Tread on Me.&#8221; Gates is undergoing a maintenance availability at Naval Station Pascagoula. U.S. Navy photo by Stacey Byington. (RELEASED)
context_page_description: The First Navy Jack was the naval jack 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. It is now only used as a naval jack by the oldest active warship in the U.S. Navy. The design is traditionally regarded as that of the first U.S. naval jack flown in the earliest years of the United States' existence, though this is disputed by the historical record.
  The First Navy Jack was replaced as the U.S. naval jack by the U.S. Union Jack on June 4, 2019, by order of the Chief of Naval Operations.
context_section_description: Modern use of the flag is usually traced back to 1976, when the United States celebrated its Bicentennial. All commissioned naval vessels were directed to fly the First Navy Jack for this 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 afterwards was the standard fifty-star 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.
  The status of the flag changed on May 31, 2002 when 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 vessels flew the flag while moored or at anchor, these 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-manned vessels of the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command.
  On February 21, 2019, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Richardson announced the blue Union Jack would return to nearly all commissioned warships of the U.S. Navy, restoring the 1980 practice of reserving the First Navy Jack to the longest active status warship. This order disregards USS Constitution, which technically is the oldest in the Navy but is used for ceremonial purposes. The honor of "oldest ship" in the Fleet was conferred on the following U.S. Navy vessels:
caption: Raising of the "Navy Jack" for the first time at morning colors, on September 11, 2002, aboard the guided missile cruiser Thomas S. Gates in honor of those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
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