Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1914-10-15
WARsH||P BUNTING.
Il. Takes a Lot Of Flags to Fit
Out Uncle Sans Navy.
USE. c0LoRs oFsALL NATIONS.

Each of the Big We ssls Carries About
Five Hundred Ensisns of Various
Kinds and Sizes-severs Tests to
Which the Material Is Subjected.
Something like $4,000 a year is re-
CURED to keep Uncle Sans many naval
vessels properly equipped with flags.
In addition most every other depart
ment of the government appropriates
various sums for flags for buildings
and ships under its control. In all,
it is safe to say the United States
spends S125,O0O year for flags.
The largest factory belongs to the
navy In large room, called the flag
loft" at Brooklyn navy yard half
hundred skilled needlewomen and quite
few men are kept constantly at work.
Officially it Is the naval flag making es-
Enlistment
Thousands Of flags are required to
supply the hundreds Of vessels. from
battleships to launches. On entering
the flag loft the visitors first impress
sion is blaze Of color. Rolls Of bright
bunting are heaped everywhere. Long
lines Of electrically driven sewing ma
chimes. with women operators. are reel
ing off and putting the finishing touches
to American and foreign ensigns OF
many different hues and sizes. In addi-
! ton to our own flag. the navy has to
keep a supply Of every other nation In
the world which has coast line.
Each battleship. cruiser, gunboat or
scout in the navy requires about 500
flags to outfit its flag locker properly.
Heaped up, they make pile shoulder
! high and twenty or twenty-five feet
long. The foreign flags. incascd in can
vas bags. bear the name Of the coun-
| try stenciled on the end. The remain
der, including flags for ordinary use.
| signaling. etc. are wrapped without
bags and numbered at the end. Each
flag has it's separate place in the flag
Elocker. a quartermaster would be re
buked severely if one became mis-
placed Each ship follows the same or
der in this. so that any one familiar
with the flag locker on one ship knows
the location Of every flag on any ship.
Uncle SAM pays about $500 to OUTFIT
each ship in the service. This multi
piled by the number OF ships VIII show
that flags are not an inc0nseQuentia!
item of naval expense. The foreign
ensigns are all made twenty-five feet
long and thirteen feet wide. They are
used whenever IN American warship
enters port CT another nation. The
flag of the visited nation is hoiSted at
the top Of the foremost while the
American ship saiutes. 1t is also hoist
ed when returning salutes Of foreign
vessels in American ports.
The most SNOWY and expensive flags
in the lot are those of foreign nations.
although the United States has two
flags that are close rivals. the flags of
the president and vice president. They
require the longest time to make Of
any flags It takes one woman month
to finish each one. The presidents
flag is Il blue ground with the coat Of
arms of the United States in the cen
ter. The life sized eagle with out
stretched wings aud other enblems are
all hand embroidered in silk. The silk
used costs so Il pound. The vice presi-
dents dag IS the coat Of arms on
field Of white Both flags are made in
two sizes. 10 by II feet and 5 by S feet.
The larger is used on ships and the
smaller on launches and similar craft.
The largest flag made is the United
States ensign No. l. which is Sc by 10
feet 1t costs $40.
The bunting used in flag making is
put 10 severe tests before the flag MAX.
prs use it. One day Il sample bundle is
washed in soap and water. The next
day the same process is followed with
salt water. 1t is then exposed to the
weather for ten days. thirty hours OF
which mnSt be in the bright sun. 1t it
doesn't fade in that test the govern
mcnt experts pass it. Then two inches
wide Of the warp is subject to Il pull
inc strain of siyty-five pounds. Even
with all those precautions Il ship is al
lGWeu Il lleN SCI Vi uiSS every lHTee
years. while the signal flags and ship
anu boat ensigns in frequent use must
be replaced every few weeks.
One nag or pennant. rather. most
used by the navy and least known to
the public is the commission pennant.
1t is hoisted to the masthead Of every
naval vessel when it goes into commits
sion and is never removed. 1t is
long. narrow Strcamcr. blue at the
staff. with thirteen stars in the field
arranged in one line and the flag di-
vidcd into two stripes. red and white.
the red ut the top. When ships long
on foreign stations leave for home
new commission pennant is always
hoiStcd. Usnaly it is one made and
paid for by the crew. In some cases
those "homeward FOUNDERS" stretch
out 700 feet and. made of silk, cost
pretty Ncnnr.
The thousands Of white stars used in
our own and many other enSigns are