NAO 201-6

NAO 201-6 - Issued 04/01/02; Effective 04/18/02

OFFICIAL FLAGS OF NOAA

SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

.01 This Order describes the types and uses of official flags of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and indicates the authorized national, Department of Commerce (DOC), and NOAA flags and pennants for use at official ceremonies and occasions. Additionally, this Order specifies and describes those occasions when the rendering of honors is customary or appropriate, and prescribes procedures for displaying or flying in certain ceremonies established by usage and custom for social and interagency official contacts.

.02 This is a complete revision and update to the Order. Major changes include: adding the NOAA Commissioned Corps flag; delineating and differentiating between the terms “display” and “fly”; and updating titles of various officials and organizations.

SECTION 2. SCOPE.

.01 In addition to the flag of the United States, only those flags that are authorized by Department Administrative Order (DAO) 201-6, Official Flags of the Department, and whose procedures for displaying or flying are covered in this Order, are authorized for use by the organizations and officials of NOAA.

.02 Section 3 of The NOAA Visual Communications Handbook illustrates national flags and flagstaff toppings and the authorized DOC, NOAA, and NOAA Corps flags and pennants.

SECTION 3. POLICY.

.01 Personal Flags. The following officials of NOAA are authorized, through DAO 201-6, to display or fly personal flags:

a. Under Secretary/Administrator. This flag shall depict four (4) white stars superimposed on the NOAA service flag, one in each corner of the flag.

b. Assistant Secretary/Deputy Administrator. This flag shall depict four (4) red stars superimposed on the NOAA service flag, one in each corner of the flag.

c. Chief Scientist. The flag shall depict three (3) red stars on the NOAA service flag arranged vertically on the staff side of the flag.

d. Flag Officers, NOAA. The flag of a vice admiral in the NOAA Commissioned Corps shall depict a triangle (base down) in white, on a blue field, with three five-pointed stars in white, arranged vertically on the staff side of the flag. The flag for the old grade of rear admiral (upper

half) and the new grade of rear admiral shall depict a triangle (base down) in white, on a blue field, with two five-pointed stars in white, one opposite each side of the triangle. The flag of a rear admiral (lower half) appointed before November 8, 1985, shall depict a triangle (base down) in blue, on a white field, with two five-pointed stars in blue, one opposite each side of the triangle. The flag of a rear admiral (lower half) appointed on or after November 8, 1985, shall depict a triangle (base down) in white, on a blue field, with one five-pointed star in blue, centered in the triangle.

1. Public Law 99-145 changed the grade of commodore back to its former grade of rear admiral (lower half) but retained the one-star insignia of the 0-7 grade.

2. Retired flag officers are authorized to display or fly personal flags at ceremonies appropriate for official observance. (Refer to Section 3.01d. of this Order for the appropriate flag.)

e. DOC Officials. Flags shall be appropriately displayed or flown for the Secretary of Commerce, Deputy Secretary, Under Secretaries and the General Counsel, Assistant Secretaries, and others.

.02 NOAA Service Flags.

a. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The flag depicts a triangle (base down) in red, within a white circle on a blue field, with the NOAA emblem superimposed on the triangle. This flag is displayed or flown at all NOAA installations where proper arrangements exist, and aboard NOAA ships.

b. Commission Pennant, NOAA Ships. A union of red triangles (bases down) on a white field, one-fourth the length of the pennant, the remaining three-fourths of its length to be blue. This pennant is flown by NOAA ships or craft in commission.

c. NOAA Commissioned Corps. The flag of the NOAA Commissioned Corps shall depict a full globe, surmounted by a spread eagle, facing dexter. The breast of the eagle carries a shield and the globe is superimposed on crossed fouled anchors. The globe, eagle, and anchors are white, superimposed on a red triangle. The triangle is centered within a white circle with “NOAA COMMISSIONED CORPS” arranged around the upper half of the circle in blue lettering. The year “1917" is centered around the bottom half of the circle in blue letters. One blue star is placed at each side of the base of the red triangle on the outer ring of the circle. The white circle is centered on a blue field. The flag is displayed in accordance with the customs and traditions of the flags of Uniformed Services.

.03 Flags of the United States.

a. NOAA officials authorized to display, in their respective offices, the flag of the United States procured at public expense are identified in Section 3.01 of this Order.

b. The Under Secretary of Commerce and Administrator may authorize the procurement of U.S. flags for display in the offices of key NOAA officials, including those who serve in geographic locations separate from headquarters as the principal representatives of NOAA.

c. The Under Secretary of Commerce and Administrator, or persons designated by him/her, may authorize the procurement of U.S. flags for display where official events take place, such as oath taking or public hearings, which make the presence of the flag particularly appropriate, and for display in public places in keeping with the honor and respect due the national colors.

SECTION 4. PROCEDURES.

.01 Distinctive Marks. The distinctive marks of a NOAA ship in commission are the NOAA service flag and the commission pennant, or the personal flag of a NOAA official or of a DOC official. Not more than one distinctive mark other than the service flag shall be flown simultaneously. The distinctive marks shall be flown day and night, except on occasions of ceremony described elsewhere within Section 4. of this Order. The commission pennant or personal flag shall be flown from a short standard hoisted to the main truck and the service flag shall be flown from the fore truck on ships having two masts. On ships having one mast, the commission pennant or personal flag and service flag shall be flown at the same masthead with the personal flag or commission pennant uppermost. During periods when a ship is dressed or full dressed, these flags and pennants shall be flown as described under Section 4.07 of this Order.

.02 Underway. All vessels, when underway, shall fly the national ensign at the gaff from 0800 to sunset except when at sea when no land or vessel is in sight. Unless there are sufficient reasons to the contrary, the colors shall be set even though it is before 0800 or after sunset if there is sufficient light for them to be seen: when getting underway or coming to anchor when entering or leaving port; when passing, meeting, joining, or parting from other government vessels; when falling in with a vessel at sea; when required to establish identity by patrol aircraft; and when approaching or passing towns, forts, naval stations, lighthouses, and light vessels. If a NOAA ship enters a port other than the home port or usual operating port during the night, colors shall be made at daylight for a short period to enable the authorities of the port and government vessels present to determine her nationality. When arriving in port after daylight but before 0800 and after keeping the colors up long enough for the port authorities to recognize them, they shall be hauled down and made again at 0800 in the usual manner.

.03 In Port. When in port whether at anchor or alongside, the national ensign and the union jack shall be hoisted at 0800 and hauled down at sunset. The union jack shall be flown from the jack staff from Morning to Evening Colors. At Morning Colors, the union jack shall be hoisted after the ensign has been hoisted and set. At Evening Colors, this procedure shall be reversed. In foreign ports, the flag of the host nation is not flown aboard a commissioned ship of the United States.

.04 Boat Flag. The national ensign will be used as a boat flag by all commissioned officers.

.05 Official DOC Personnel On Board a NOAA Vessel. When a DOC official for whom a flag is authorized is on board a vessel belonging to DOC, the official's flag shall be flown. When two or more such officials visit a vessel at the same time, only the flag of the higher ranking official shall be flown. When the flag of a secretarial officer is hoisted on a vessel, it may be larger but shall not be smaller than the service flag flown. Personal flags of other officials when flown may be smaller but shall not be larger than the service flag flown.

.06 Morning and Evening Colors.

a. In port, the ceremonial hoisting or lowering of the national ensign at 0800 and at sunset aboard a NOAA ship not underway shall be known as the Morning Colors and Evening Colors, respectively.

b. The officer of the deck with the day's duty or the quartermaster on watch shall perform the ceremonial hoisting of Morning Colors and the lowering during Evening Colors at sunset.

c. When in the presence of a Navy or Coast Guard vessel, Morning and Evening Color ceremonies shall be conducted in unison following their lead. When they perform these ceremonies to music, the officer of the deck shall be governed thereby and dispense with oral or other signals.

d. A boat underway within sight or hearing of a color ceremony shall lay to or proceed at the slowest safe speed. The officer or coxswain in charge of the boat shall remain seated or standing and shall not salute.

e. During periods of official mourning when the national ensign is required to be flown at half-mast, it shall first be hoisted to the peak at Morning and Evening Colors before setting at half-mast or hauling down.

.07 Dressing and Full Dressing Ship.

a. When a ship of the NOAA fleet is in port and the occasion calls for dressing ship, the largest national ensign available on board shall be flown from the flagstaff aft, the union jack from the jack staff, and a national ensign or other flag shall be flown from each masthead as described in the following.

1. On a ship with one mast, a national ensign is flown at the truck, the NOAA service flag at the starboard yardarm, and a personal flag, if flown, at the starboard yardarm inboard.

2. On a ship with two masts, the national ensign is flown at the main truck, the NOAA service flag at the fore truck, and personal flags, if flown, at the starboard yardarm.

3. On ships with a commanding officer, if a personal flag is not flown, the NOAA commission pennant shall be flown at the main or fore truck above the national ensign.

4. The ensigns or flags flown at mastheads shall be the same size if masts are equal in height; otherwise, they shall conform to the difference in heights of the mastheads. The union jack shall be approximately equal in size to that of the union of the national ensign at the flagstaff but not significantly larger than any other ensign flown.

b. When in port and the occasion requires full dressing of the ship, in addition to the dressing of mastheads, a rainbow of signal flags, arranged no more than three (3) feet apart so as to give the most pleasing color distribution, shall be flown reaching from the foot of the jack staff to the mastheads, thence to the foot of the flagstaff. Every fourth flag in line should be a pennant. Ships without masts shall make a display as little modified from the rainbow effect as is practicable.

c. When half-masting of the national ensign is required on occasions of dressing or full dressing ship, only the ensign at the flagstaff and the union jack shall be half-masted.

d. The following additional rules concerning dressing or full dressing ship in port shall be observed.

1. On President's Day (formerly Washington's Birthday) and Independence Day, all NOAA ships in commission shall full dress ship at 0800 and remain so dressed until sunset. When weather or other circumstances render this inadvisable in the opinion of the commanding officer, dressing may be substituted for full dressing.

2. On Memorial Day, ships shall not be dressed but the national ensign shall be at half-mast from 0800 to 1220.

3. On all other national holidays, ships may be dressed at the discretion of the commanding officer if no other vessels are present. If other U.S. or foreign government ships in sight are dressed, the NOAA ship shall also be dressed.

e. When holidays on which full dressing is required fall on Sunday, the ceremonies shall be postponed until the following day.

f. When President's Day and Independence Day occur during a period of mourning, the mourning shall be suspended and the ceremonies observed.

g. Vessels may participate in celebrating local holidays and festivals by dressing or full dressing ship and joining in other ceremonies, including ship parades, provided there is no interference with regular duties.

.08 Inspection by Officials Ranking a Personal Flag. If on a ship with one mast, the personal flag of the ranking individual shall be hoisted to the truck the instant the official steps on deck and flown there until the individual leaves. If on a two-masted ship, it shall be hoisted to the main truck. If the official visit occurs during a ceremony requiring the national ensign to be flown at those places, the personal flag shall be shifted to the starboard yardarm or the fore truck.

.09 Official Mourning.

a. Upon the death of a United States civil official, the national ensign shall be half-masted from the day of death for the periods indicated below:

1. President, ex-President, or President-elect - 30 days;

2. Vice President, Chief Justice, retired Chief Justice or Speaker of the House of Representatives - 10 days; and

3. an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a former Vice President, a member of the Cabinet, Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Air Force, the Deputy Secretary of Commerce, an Under Secretary of Commerce, Assistant Secretary of Commerce or Administrator - until sunset of the day of interment.

b. Upon the death of an official of a particular state, territory, or possession, all ships or establishments located in the area represented shall half-mast the national ensign from the day of death as follows:

1. Governor of a state, territory, or possession - until interment; and

2. United States Senator, Representative, Territorial Delegate, or Resident Commissioner from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico - until interment.

c. Upon the death of a commissioned officer or vessel employee, the national ensign on the vessel to which attached shall be half-masted from 0800 on the day of death to sunset on the day of the funeral. At observatories or other shore establishments, the national ensign shall be half-masted from the beginning of the funeral until sunset of that day.

d. When the national ensign is half-masted, the union jack shall also be half-masted.

e. When an officer or vessel employee of a NOAA ship dies, the following will be observed:

1. a national ensign should be furnished to be used for draping a casket whenever requested; and

2. during burial at sea, the national ensign shall be half-masted during daylight hours from 0800 until the body has been committed to the deep.

.10 Flag Sizes. The flag sizes listed in Attachment 1 to this Order are to be used for display or flying in accordance with the outlined requirements.

.11 Flagstaff Topping (Office and Vehicle Display). In displaying or flying either the national ensign or personal flags as authorized, the following flagstaff topping (gold color) relative to rank/position shall be used.

a. Members of the Cabinet and Above - a spread eagle.

b. NOAA Under Secretary/Administrator, and under secretaries, and assistant secretaries down through rear admirals (lower half) and Senior Executive Service - a halberd.

c. Captains and GS-15 - a ball.

d. The staff used for automobile flags shall be topped by an acorn regardless of the rank of the official or officer embarked.

.12 Sketches of Flagstaff Ornaments. See Attachment 2 to this Order.

SECTION 5. EFFECT ON OTHER ISSUANCES.

This Order supersedes NOAA Administrative Order 201-6 dated September 18, 1992.

signed

Chief Financial Officer/Chief
Administrative Officer

Attachments:
- Attachment 1 - Flag Sizes
- Attachment 2 - Sketches of Flagstaff Ornaments

Office of Primary Interest:
Office of Marine and Aviation Operations
  Program Services Division (OMAO3)

NAO 201-6 Attachment 1

FLAG SIZES

SHIPS

Marine Centers

ANY NOAA FACILITY, INCLUDING MARINE CENTER
AND AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS CENTER