The commissioning pennant reflects the fact that the ship is a ship of war, and is flown until the ship is decommissioned. It is generally taken to signify the
commissioned status of the warship. In some navies, the commissioning pennant is used in addition to represent the personal authority of the captain, although it is flown continuously aboard the ship whether the captain is aboard or not.
Hellenic Navy In the
Hellenic Navy, the commissioning pennant (, ) is blue coloured, has shape of isosceles triangle elongated, bearing a white cross near the base of the triangle. The flag has typically base to length (height of triangle) 1 to 20. The cross has arms width 1/5 base length and each arm length 3/5 of base length. The pennant flown on the top of
mainmast.
Indian Navy In the
Indian Navy, a white triangular pennant is flown with at hoist a gold-blue octagon bearing the crest of the Indian Navy in the center.
Indonesian Navy In the
Indonesian Navy, the commissioning pennant is called the War Pennant () and has the same red and white colors of the
Indonesian flag, except it is longer and shaped like a
swallowtail flag. The pennant is flown in all
Indonesian Navy ships and indicating that the ship is on active duty.
Japanese Navy Royal Navy In the
Royal Navy the commissioning pennant is flown continuously in every ship and establishment in commission unless displaced by a senior officer's
Rank flag. The masthead pennant is a
cross of St George in the hoist and a white fly. Formerly, when the Royal Navy was divided into red, white and blue squadrons, there were four different pennants in use, the colour of the fly of three of the pennants corresponding with the colour of the squadron ensign, and a fourth for ships on independent commission (i.e. not attached to a squadron, therefore directly under the command of the Admiralty in London), with the fly containing (from top to bottom) red white and blue in a
triband form (such ships would wear the red ensign). Modern commissioning pennants are significantly shorter than in previous centuries - typically 1m in length and only 10 cm at the hoist, tapering to a squared-off point.
Russian Navy South Korean Navy 's commissioning pennant
Taiwanese Navy In the
Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy, a red trapezoidal pennant is flown with the
Blue Sky with a White Sun in the hoist. The flag has typically base to length 1 to 10, and hoist to fly 5 to 1.
Turkish Navy The Turkish masthead pennant () is one of the official symbols of the
Turkish Naval Forces and
Coast Guard. It consists of the crescent and star found on the Turkish flag and is triangular in size. Its use is also permitted on civilian ships and boats.
United States United States Navy and United States Coast Guard The commissioning pennant of the
United States Navy is "blue at the hoist, bearing seven white stars; the rest of the pennant consists of single longitudinal stripes of red and white." Ships of the United States Navy and the United States Coast Guard fly their respective commissioning pennants from the moment of commissioning until the decommissioning ceremony, the only exceptions being when either a
flag officer or a civilian official is embarked and the flag officer's or civilian official's personal flag is flown in its place. The ensign, jack and commissioning pennant are hoisted directly after the reading out of the commissioning order and struck as the final act before the captain declares the ship decommissioned. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard use the respective pennants as the symbol of the vessel's commanding officer. When the vessel's commanding officer is ashore, the ship will also display the international code flag known as the Third Substitute pennant.
NOAA fleet The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operates a fleet of
research and
survey ships which are in commission for
United States Government service, although they are not warships. Ships in the
NOAA fleet fly a "commission pennant" in a similar manner to U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard ships. The NOAA fleet has three commission pennants, one for its largest ships (which it deems "Class I" vessels), and two for smaller ships NOAA defines as "Class II," "Class III," or "Class IV" vessels. The pennant for Class I vessels is long and has 13 red triangles on a white background at the hoist, with the remainder of the pennant blue, while the pennants for Class II, III, and IV vessels are long and have seven red triangles but otherwise are identical in design to the Class I pennant. The pennants are identical to those flown by commissioned ships of the
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, one of the ancestor organizations of NOAA, and the red triangles represent the discipline of
triangulation used in
hydrographic surveys. The flag of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, used from 1899 to 1970, and that of NOAA, in use since 1970, include a similar red triangle. ==Paying-off pennants==