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Office of the Secretary of DefenseFlags of Senior Officials |
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The personal flag of any statutory official of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, each of whom is appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, is flown from the aftermost mast of a Navy ship throughout an official visit. As with the flags of the President, Vice President, or officials of the Navy Department, flags of OSD officials displace the commission pennant or, in the case of a flagship, the personal flag or command pennant of the senior naval officer. In the latter case, the flag officer's flag or unit commander's command pennant remains flying, but is shifted to the starboard main yardarm throughout the civil official's visit. When these officials visit shore installations of the Navy, the seniormost official's flag is displayed at the point where the installation commander's flag, if any, normally flies. These flags are also flown at the bow of boats of the Navy and may be displayed in a smaller size on automobiles. For indoor and parade use, the flags are trimmed with 2 1/2 inch fringe and the staff is decorated with cord and tassels as described below.
The establishment
of the Department of Defense in 1947, creating a new cabinet secretary
and staff structure in the Navy's chain of command, inevitably led to the
development of a new series of personal distinguishing flags. The
first of these, naturally enough, was that of the Secretary of Defense
himself. This flag, approved by President Truman on October 7, 1947,
is medium or "Defense" blue with an American bald eagle in full color in
the center and a white star in each corner. The eagle's wings are
expanded, its talons grasp three crossed arrows, and the United States
shield is displayed on its breast. All the personal flags used by
officials of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as well as by the
Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, use the same eagle
and arrows, which also forms the central device in the departmental seal.
When used as a ceremonial or indoor flag, it is trimmed with white fringe
and has a medium blue and white cord and tassels attached. The staff
of this ceremonial flag and the Secretary's boat flag is topped with a
brass
spread eagle.
The flag of the
Deputy Secretary of Defense was approved by the President on April 20,
1949, for the use of the Under Secretary of Defense, who was then the second
ranking official of the department. This flag, the same as the Secretary's
but with the colors of the field and stars reversed, became that of the
Deputy Secretary when the number two post was given that designation later
in 1949. For indoor and ceremonial use, this flag has a medium blue
fringe and medium blue and white cord and tassels. The flagstaff
ornament used by the Navy with this flag is a spread
eagle.
There are currently
four under secretaries of defense, one each for acquisition, technology and logistics;
policy; personnel and readiness; and comptroller. The current version
of Navy Regulations is contradictory as to the display of this flag
aboard ship--it provides for a gun salute when an under secretary of defense's
flag is flying aboard a ship, but the table on flags to be flown during
official visits prescribes the national ensign at the fore rather than
this flag. This is presumably an editing error resulting from the
fact that, for a time after the creation of the position of deputy secretary,
there were no under secretaries in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
The flag now used by under secretaries was originally approved by the Secretary of Defense
on February 18, 1959, for the Director of Defense Research and Engineering.
The title was subsequently changed to Under Secretary of Defense for Research
and Engineering. The flag is medium blue with a large dark blue triangle
extending from the base to the center of the upper edge, with the Department
device on the center and four white stars across the top.
Deputy Under
Secretaries of Defense were created relatively recently by law to provide
senior officials to back up the critical positions of Under Secretary for
Acquisition, Technology and Logistics and Under Secretary for Policy. Their
flag is the same as that of the under secretaries but with the colors of
the field and the triangle reversed. As in the case of the under
secretaries, Navy Regulations do not yet provide for flying this flag aboard
ship but presumably will when the Regulations are updated in the future.
These two officials, who are appointed by the President and confirmed by
the Senate, outrank the assistant secretaries of Defense and are more generally
known within the Department of Defense as principal deputy under
secretaries to distinguish them from officials with the title of DUSD who
are not Senate-confirmed, are not entitled to the honorific "The Honorable,"
rank after rather than before assistant secretaries.
The flag for assistant
secretaries of defense (also used by the General Counsel of the department)
is the same as that of the Deputy Secretary, but with red stars rather
than blue. For indoor use, the fringe is also red and the cord and
tassels red and white. This flag was approved by the President on
August 16, 1949.
The Department of Defense Inspector General uses the same flag as assistant
secretaries but with dark blue rather than red stars, fringe, and cord
and tassels. Current Navy Regulations do not provide for display
of this flag aboard ship, but will probably do so after the next revision.
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