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Flag and Etiquette
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USPS Ensign History
Roger Upton's powerboat club of the Boston Yacht Club was officially recognized at the yacht club's annual meeting in January 1913. It was subsequently upgraded to the "Power Squadron" of the club, and a descriptive commentary, with its officers and official rules, was devoted to it in the club's annual year book.
To recognize those members of this new division, a distinguishing pennant was designed. When a yacht club member was able to pass a stiff examination in the requirements of what is now today's Piloting and Advanced Piloting courses he was admitted to membership in the Power Squadron Division and entitled to fly the new pennant above the yacht club burgee on the bow staff.
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The pennant was a 6-to-1 proportion, like the club's officer-in-charge pennant. It was composed of three sections—red, white and blue in proportions of 10:11:15, respectively from the hoist outward. A white, five-pointed star, whose diameter is two-thirds of the pennant's hoist, was centered on the red portion.
Large commercial vessels were very concerned about small craft interfering with their navigation in the harbors. They complained that recreational boat owners and operators knew nothing whatsoever about the Rules of the Road, whistle signals, etc. Fearing that the Department of Commerce might require small-craft operators to pass a very rigid examination to obtain a license, the squadron organized classes to teach the fundamentals of small-boat handling. The classes were very well received by the Department of Commerce and by the operators of large vessels. An improvement in the handling of small craft on the waterways was soon apparent. However, the officers of the large vessels complained that they could not see the small distinguishing pennant. They asked for a flag that could readily be seen and would be an clearly visible sign that any boat flying it was in the hands of a competent navigator or pilot.
The officers of the Power Squadrons decided that in order to create a flag which would be such an "outward and visible sign" it would be necessary to adopt a flag much larger in size than the club burgee or the owner's private signal. Furthermore, as there were places already designated for flying the club burgee and the owner"s private signal, it was felt that any designation by the squadrons to fly the new Power Squadron flag from the bow staff or the masthead would be opposed.
Therefore, in order to obtain a flag which could be seen at a hoist which could be used without objection, it was decided that a unique ensign [definition] should be chosen, to be flown in lieu of the yacht ensign. Note that the "yacht ensign" did not enjoy the standing of a national ensign, but was a special signal authorized earlier by Congress to distinguish a yacht with approved customs credentials.
Publicity about Roger Upton's Power Squadron generated much interest in the yachting community, so in the June 1913 issue of Motor Boating magazine, associate editor Charles F. Chapman gave the Power Squadron a full page display. Other clubs clambered to seek affiliation.
Meetings were held in late 1913 at the New York Yacht Club to form a Power Squadron Conference Committee, with the vision of forming a national organization. Delegates from clubs throughout the East Coast and as far west as Detroit attended. These meetings set the groundwork for a nationwide organization. A final meeting was held on 2 February 1914 in the Commodore's Room at the New York Yacht Club—a date set to coincide with the New York Boat Show, which many delegates would be attending.)
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Henry A. Morse of the Eastern Yacht Club of Marblehead, Massachusetts. Discussions focused on formalizing the organization; officers were elected, with Roger Upton as Chief Commander. A governing board was created, and, with that, the United States Power Squadrons was born.
At the meeting there were a few drawings for selection of a flag for the new organization and Chairman Morse said, "The next matter is that the Governing Board be requested to take immediate steps toward authorization by Congress of a suitable distinguishing flag." Documents reflect that a Mr. C. Longstreth, of the Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia, then spoke, saying, "I move that the one with the blue and white horizontal [sic] and red field, as shown at this meeting, be urged as the most desirable and satisfactory for the United States Power Squadrons." The motion passed. It is not known whether the word "horizontal" was an error by the recording secretary or whether the original design really did have horizontal stripes.
While not documented, it is believed that the vertical stripes on the USPS ensign came from the U.S. Custom Cutter Service (later becoming the U.S. Coast Guard) and that the canton was derived from the U.S. yacht ensign with the colors reversed.
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Roger Upton, the new Chief Commander, filed for a patent for the flag on 14 April 1914 but it was not until 28 March 1916 that patent No. 48,803 was issued. Although Upton had filed for the patent, Charles F. Chapman acknowledged in an interview on 25 October 1975 that he had designed the ensign. Incredibly, the text of the patent makes no reference to its heraldry, source, background or anything else, nor does it make any reference to USPS or any Power Squadron. It doesn't even cite the colors directly although the accompanying illustration depicts the blue and red portions in what were likely the standard conventions of the time. The design specifications of the USPS ensign can be found in the USPS Operations Manual. The colors are the same "Old Glory" shades as in the U.S. ensign. Today, the ensign is protected under U.S. trademark laws.
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The ensign was not officially recognized until March of 1915. On May 18, 1915, General Order No. 11 was issued by Flag Lieutenant Nathaniel L. Stebbins, authorizing the flying of our ensign with or without the USPS pennant which up to that time had been the distinguishing flag of the squadrons.
When the pennant was displayed it was considered as a "commission pennant" and members were directed to fly it continuously day and might at the masthead or at the bow of boats without a mast. (Up to then, all flags except an officer flag were to be retired at sunset.) The display or non-display of the pennant was optional for each squadron. Some of the older members preferred the pennant to the new ensign. But, unlike the new flag, the pennant was not legally protected.
The manner of displaying the new USPS flag was left up to local squadrons. The recommended method was to display the flag as an ensign, but the flag also could be displayed at the masthead, in place of the private signal or club burgee, or at the bow, in place of the club burgee, as may be preferred. When displayed at the masthead or bow, the flag was to be of smaller size than when displayed as an ensign. Display at the masthead or bow was the only way the flag could legally be displayed on boats over 15 tons at that time.
During World War I, the Governing Board ordered that squadron boats fly a pennant of somewhat different design form the original and that the American flag be worn at the taffrail or gaff. Similarly, during Word War II Old Glory was worn in her proper place with the USPS ensign at the starboard spreader.
Then as now, the USPS ensign could be flown only when the vessel was under direct command of a USPS member. Today most members prefer to fly their USPS ensign from the lowest starboard spreader halyard of the foremost mast, reserving the flagstaff for the national flag. When worn on the flagstaff, gaff or leach, as a substitute for the U.S. flag, the USPS ensign is displayed only form 0800 until sunset, just like the national flag it simulates. The USPS ensign is never flown in place of the U.S. ensign in foreign waters.
The original USPS pennant was reconstituted by the Flag and Etiquette Committee as a "cruise pennant" for the Excitement '85 national rendezvous and cruise out of Baltimore, following the fall 1985 Governing Board meeting. It was subsequently authorized for use while participating in any organized USPS activity on the water, such as a cruise, rendezvous or boat parade. It may be worn day and night from the highest practical position for the best visibility. When flown from the starboard spreader halyard or an antenna in conjunction with the USPS ensign, it is worn above the ensign.
There is a USPS ceremonial flag in the form of a tapered, swallowtail USPS ensign. It is used only by direction of the Chief Commander, in situations such as presentations to heads of state. In September 1989 C/C William D. Selden presented one to President George H.W. Bush in the Oval Office to recognize the 75th anniversary of USPS.
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At the 1989 annual meeting, at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, five extra large ensigns left by boat, each with a logbook, to celebrate the organization's 75th anniversary. Each ensign had a specific route it was to take so that one ensign would pass through every squadron in every district of USPS (and some Canadian squadrons as well.) Two ensigns flew over all seven seas on board the NASA shuttle Atlantis. Entries were made in the logbook for every squadron visited and every vessel that the ensign was aboard. These ensigns passed from squadron to squadron by boat—whether afloat, on a trailer, on a truck, or even in a boat model. All five ensigns arrived back at the fall Governing Board meeting in Richmond, Virginia, via a replica of Christopher Columbus' flagship Niña, which had navigated up the James River from Norfolk.
The Voyage of the Ensign II began at the Puerto Rico Governing Board Meeting in June 1999 and concluded at the 2000 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. Five special 85th anniversary ensigns traveled to all 450 local squadrons across the United States, Puerto Rico, the American Virgin Islands and Japan.
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There is one special USPS ensign in the Charles F. Chapman memorial library at headquarter in Raleigh. That ensign flew on a space mission during the Apollo Series.
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