United States Navy

==Naval jack==
[[File:US Naval Jack.svg|thumb|upright=0.45|U.S. naval jack]]
[[File:Naval jack of the United States (2002–2019).svg|thumb|upright=0.45|First navy jack]]

The current [[Jack (flag)|naval jack]] of the United States is the [[Jack of the United States|Union Jack]], a small blue flag emblazoned with the stars of the 50 states. The Union Jack was not flown for the duration of the War on Terror, during which Secretary of the Navy [[Gordon R. England]] directed all U.S. naval ships to fly the [[First Navy Jack]]. While Secretary England directed the change on 31 May 2002, many ships chose to shift colors later that year in remembrance of the first anniversary of the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]]. The Union Jack, however, remained in use with vessels of the U.S. Coast Guard and [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]. A jack of similar design to the Union Jack was used in 1794, with 13 stars arranged in a 3–2–3–2–3 pattern. When a ship is moored or anchored, the jack is flown from the [[bow (ship)|bow]] of the ship while the ensign is flown from the [[stern]]. When underway, the ensign is raised on the mainmast. Before the decision for all ships to fly the First Navy Jack, it was flown only on the oldest ship in the active American fleet, which is currently {{USS|Blue Ridge|LCC-19|6}}. U.S. Navy ships and craft returned to flying the Union Jack effective 4 June 2019. The date for reintroduction of the jack commemorates the Battle of Midway, which began on 4 June 1942.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/02/22/heres-why-the-union-jack-is-back-in-the-navy/ |title=Here's why the Union Jack is back|first=Mark D.|last=Faram|date=23 February 2019|website=Navy Times |access-date=4 April 2019}}</ref>