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The jack of the United States of America is a maritime flag representing United States nationality flown on the jackstaff in the bow of American vessels that are moored or anchored. The U.S. Navy is a prime user of jacks for its warships and auxiliaries, but they are also used by ships of the U.S. Coast Guard, the predominantly civilian-manned replenishment and support ships of the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, the ships of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other U.S. governmental entities. "The jack is flown on the bow (front) of a ship and the ensign is flown on the stern (rear) of a ship when anchored or moored. Once under way, the ensign is flown from the main mast."〔(United States Naval Jack )〕 ==History== For most of U.S. history, the primary jack design has been the blue canton with stars (the "union") from the U.S. national ensign. The blue fielded, white-starred jack is referred to as the Union Jack, not to be confused with the Union Jack of Britain, which has the same name but a different design. Like the U.S. ensign, the number of stars on the jack has increased with each state admitted into the union. Rules for flying the jack are similar to the national ensign, except that the jack is only worn at the bow when the ship is anchored, made fast or alongside. Since September 11, 2002, the U.S. Navy has made use of the so-called First Navy Jack. However, the standard U.S. jack (i.e., 50 white stars on a blue field) continues to be used as the jack by vessels of U.S. federal agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard, the Military Sealift Command and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps. The standard 50-star jack continues to be used by U.S. civilian ships and by U.S. yachts as well. The modern First Navy Jack as used by the U.S. Navy is a a flag bearing 13 red and white stripes, a rattlesnake and the motto "DONT TREAD ON ME" (HREF="http://www.kotoba.ne.jp/word/11/sic" TITLE="sic">sic'' ), coming from the supposed design of the first jacks used by the U.S. Navy during the Revolutionary War. It is flown from the jackstaff from 08:00 to sunset while U.S. Navy ships are moored or at anchor. It is required to be the same size as the union of the ensign being flown from the stern of the ship. It is also flown from the yardarm during a general court-martial or court of inquiry.〔United States Navy Rate training manual. (Signalman 1 & C ).〕 During times when the ensign is at half mast, the jack is also at half mast. The jack is hoisted smartly and lowered ceremoniously in the same manner as the ensign, however the jack is not dipped when the ensign is dipped.〔United States Navy. (Basic Military Requirements (BMR) Revised Edition )〕 Some other exceptions to the use of the U.S. Union Jack have occurred in the case of the U.S. Navy, the most prominent being the use of the First Navy Jack by the U.S. Navy in honor of the country's Bicentennial and for other uses subsequently.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= The U.S. Navy's First Jack )〕 For example, following the Bicentennial, in August 1980, use of the First Navy Jack was granted to the active commissioned ship having the longest total period of front-line operational service, said use to be in place of the Union Jack until that ship was decommissioned or transferred to inactive status, whereupon the next such ship in seniority inherited the honor of its use. Said use was limited to the oldest "commissioned" naval vessel (i.e., an all-military United States Ship (ship prefix USS) versus a part-military/part-civilian crewed United States Naval Ship (ship prefix USNS)) in front-line operational service. On June 3, 1999, the Secretary of the Navy also authorized the flying of the Submarine Centennial Jack on all U.S. Navy submarines and submarine tenders during the year 2000.〔(Undersea Warfare Summer 2000 Vol. 2, No. 4. ) The fact that the U.S. Navy has, at times, elected to substitute other flags for the Union Jack has not affected its use as a jack by the Coast Guard, NOAA, other agencies and civilians.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jack of the United States」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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