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National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
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NOAA Service Flag
The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was created on October 3, 1970,
by the merger of a number of scientific agencies within the Department
of Commerce, including the nation's oldest such organization, the U.S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey, founded in 1807 as the Survey of the Coast,
as well as the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries from the Department of the
Interior and the Army Corps of Engineers' U.S. Lake Survey. NOAA
includes the National Ocean Survey, the National Weather Service, the National
Marine Fisheries Service, and a variety of other agencies. It is
staffed in part by a small corps of commissioned officers who hold naval
rank and wear Navy-style uniforms as well as a much larger civil service
workforce. It operates some 15 ocean-going research vessels, officered
by the 265-strong commissioned NOAA Corps and crewed by civil service mariners.
The Coast and Geodetic Survey was authorized a distinguishing flag, blue
with a red triangle on a white disk, on January 16, 1899. The design
was emblematic of the triangulation method used in surveying. The
current NOAA service flag, normally displayed at the masthead of the forwardmost
mast as a distinctive mark of a NOAA vessel in commission, was adapted
from the Coast and Geodetic Survey flag by adding the NOAA emblem, a two-tone
blue circle with the silhouette of a seabird in white, on the center.
On single-masted vessels, the service flag flies immediately beneath the
commission
pennant or personal flag of a civilian official
or flag officer. NOAA vessels display the national
ensign
and union jack in the same manner as those
of the Navy and Coast Guard, and follow the movements of the senior Navy
or Coast Guard vessel if present together in the same port.
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NOAA Commission Pennant
Like commissioned
ships of the Navy and Coast Guard, those of NOAA fly a commission pennant
at the masthead of the aftermost mast 24 hours a day. The only exception
is when the flag of a senior civilian official or a
flag
officer is displayed in its place. The NOAA commission pennant
is the same as that of the old Coast and Geodetic Survey and comes in three
sizes: 15 feet with 13 red triangles in the hoist, nine feet with
seven triangles (shown), and four feet with seven triangles.
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Senior Civilian Officials
As is the case with the Navy and Coast Guard, NOAA vessels and installations
display the personal flags of the President or Vice President, the senior
officials of their parent department and the top civilian and military
officials of the organization when such officials visit NOAA installations
or ships. In the case of NOAA, the parent department is the Department
of Commerce, which authorizes the use of personal flags for officials
of secretarial rank as well as the heads of the department's primary operating
units. As with many other departments of the federal government,
these flags show the central device of the departmental seal with a star
in each corner, the colors of the field and the charges varying from one
rank of official to another. In addition, civilian officials within
NOAA have their own distinctive personal flags based on the administration's
service
flag. These flags are flown at the head of the aftermost mast
in lieu of the commission pennant or flag officer's flag when a senior
official visits a NOAA ship.
Administrator
The Administrator
of NOAA is concurrently Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere,
making him the protocol equivalent of a four-star admiral. His flag
as Administrator is the same as the service flag with the addition of a
white star in each corner. For indoor and parade display, this flag
comes in a special 52 by 66 inch size with a golden yellow fringe, cord,
and tassels. When displayed from a staff, including in a boat, it
is topped by a halberd finial.
The Administrator is also entitled to use the flag of an
Under
Secretary of Commerce.
Deputy Administrator
The Deputy Administrator's
position equates to that of an Assistant Secretary of Commerce, making
him also of four-star rank. His flag is the same as the Administrator's
but with the stars in red instead of white. He is also entitled to
a halberd finial.
Chief Scientist
The chief scientist
of NOAA flies a flag similar to that of the Deputy Administrator, but with
three stars in a vertical line in the hoist. If the chief scientist
is of the civil service grade of GS-17 or above, his flagstaff is topped
with a halberd finial; otherwise
it is topped by a ball.
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NOAA Commissioned Corps Flag Officers
The Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
consisting of some 250 officers, is the smallest of the United States'
seven uniformed services. Its grade structure normally goes up only
to (two-star) rear admiral, but provision is made in the NOAA flag directive
(NOAA
Adminisrative Order 201-6) for a three-star vice admiral's flag, used
on those occasions when a uniformed officer is appointed to a more senior
administrative position in the organization and promoted on that basis
to three-star rank. The flags shown below are in the proportions
used aboard ship and on fixed flagpoles. They also exist in the standard
ceremonial size of 52 by 66 inches, in which case they are trimmed with
golden yellow fringe, cords, and tassels. The flagstaff ornament
for all NOAA Corps flag officers is a halberd.
Vice Admiral
Rear Admiral
The Director
of NOAA Corps Operations is the service's only two-star admiral.
Her flag, a triangle flanked by two white stars, was previously that used
for director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey prior to that service's amalgamation
into NOAA.
Rear Admiral (Lower Half)
The Director
of the Atlantic and Pacific Marine Centers is currently the only one-star
officer in the NOAA Corps. This flag is the most recent in a series
of one-star flags that were first created in 1982 when Congress established
the position of commodore admiral in the Navy, Coast Guard, and NOAA Corps.
The flag shown reflects the final resolution in 1985 to restore the traditional
rank of rear admiral (lower half) but with a one-star rather than two-star
rank insignia and flag.
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Copyright 2000, 2001 by Joseph McMillan