Cañon City record., 1899-02-09
UNCLE SANS FLAGS.
pistiAg-ashinx coiors Of the Navy
Army Headquarter.-Csva
and ARTILLERY Pennants.

Inc prtSluent OF the Un1teo states
who is the head of the army and navy
is entitled to the first ranking" fial
in the country. The presidents ias
is spread eagle--the national Goa
CT arms-mounted on a blue field. sur
mounted by a curved row of 13 stars
1t is five feet six inches long by foui
feet four inches wide, is made of tht
finest quality n seamless silk and is
trimmed with yellow fringe.
Next to the presidents colors come
the flags of the secretaries of war ano
navy. That for the secretary of wal
was adopted as recently as March }
1897. 1t is made of scarlet silk, and j,
otherwise identical with the presi,
dents flag. with the exception thai
the ID stars are replaced by four white
stars in the corners. The special f1ae
for the secretary of the navy has
blue field, and instead of the nationa
coat of arms is embroidered with
white anchor in the center.
Following in the order of rank, the
most important flag in the srmy, next
to that of the secretary of war, is
the United States army headquarters
standard. 1t has blue field gorgeous.
in brown and gold. Wherever it ap.
pears in active service II denotes the
presence of the general commanding
the army or his nearest ranking Off.
Ger.
In the regular line of marcn. every
regiment composing an army carries
at its front the national coIors, bear.
ing on the fourth red stripe from the
top the number of the regiment and
its character, whether infantry, cav
airy or artillery. Besides this, IL car
ries regimental flag on which is EN-.
hroidered II national coat of arm.
similar to that on the presidents spe.
cial flag. The regimental flag for the
infantry is blue; the cavalry is vel
low. The artillery and battalion coiors
fer engineers are both scarlet, but the
flag for engineers bears a three-tur.
reted castle instead of the spread
eagle.
Detached troops of cavalry and mr..
tllery carry small guidons or pen.
nants bearing the troop number and
letter.
The regulation colors for the army
whether national or regimentaI. meas.
ure 5H feet long by four feet four
inches wide. All Service" flags are
made of bunting; colors for ceremony
are of silk. The trimmings. fringe and
cord and tassels of all flags must CON
form to the regulation colors of tho.
division to which they belong. Flee
pixies are nine feet long and ~
in diameter in the center. tapering
slightly toward the ends. The pike
Is tipped with nickel-plated spear
head in the shape of heart
In the navy there are seven flags
designating rank. aside from the spe-
cial Gag of the secretary of the navy.
Next to his is the assistant secretary's.
an exact counterpart of the former
only that the colors are reversed. All
the remaining flags have blue field
and white stars; the order being. for
's;mirais. four stars: for vice admirsIs
three stars; for rear admirals. two
stars: for commodore. one star in
center of blue pennant. The cap
fain's pennant is a strip of bunting Is
feet long. with - stars in blue field
and red and white stripe. Last of all
is small triangular pennanf with n
dead blue field denoting the senior Of
hcer's presence in the absence of the
captain OF ship.
The special flag of the officer high,
est in rank Invariably floats from the
main" of the vessel he lis on. When
the secretary of the navy visits ship
Of war. the commanding officers COL
ors are immediately lowered from the
hiastheadand the secretary's flag takes
its place. During a squadron cruise
the captain of the flagship never flies
his special flag, the admiral being
The highest ranking officer.
There are seven sizes OF fiags used In
the navy. ranging all the way from 30
TO three feet in length. The first five
sizes are designated officially as
ship" flags, and the remaining two
are boat" flags. Sizes Nos. and 2
are now almost obsolete. They were
intended for the old wooden frigates.
whose sterns stood high above the
water and would be entirely unsuita-
bic for the low-iying freeboard of our
cruisers and battleships.
vessel in commission always car
ries the national colors at the stern
until snndown every night. The flag
of the commanding officer remains at
the masthead day and night. In going
to and from shore. the ships small
boats carry the flag of the senior off,
Ger at the fore, when the officer Is be-
low the grade of captain, otherwise
tine officers own colors are used.
In addition TO the flags OF officers
whose rank entities them to special
recognition in naval etiquette. every
ship Of war is supplied with full set
of international colors, full set Of
'wig-wag." or signaling flags. and
full set of pennants. including colors
for the purpose of showing that the
ship is tahng aboard ammunition.
that the crews are at "me S." or TINT
the regular Sunday "church" services
are taking place. and so forth.
The grandest and most imposing
pennant in the whole navy IS the
"homeward-bound" streamer, 4s-
starred red. white and blue strip Of
bunting, in all respects like the cap
tain's pennaDt, which floats majestic
ally from the mainmast, and is often
so long that II trails in the water at
the stern.-Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Reason.
Ned-That man appears to have lot
of good horse sense.