Know your Confederate Flags and Symbols – Part 7 – The Confederate Naval Jack
Part Seven of our continuing series on Confederate Flags and Symbols. This series aims to increase accurate knowledge of Confederate History and further pride in our Southern Heritage. This article features the history behind the Confederate Naval Jacks.
The two flags shown below were the Naval Jacks of the Confederate States of America. A naval jack is the flag that is flown from the bow of a ship and is flown in addition to a national flag. The national flag is flown from the stern of a ship as a sign of respect. Commissioned ships of the Confederate Navy flew the Stars and Bars (First National Flag) on their stern from 1861 through 1863. The naval jack was a rectangular version of the blue canton of the First National with the stars arranged in the same circular pattern.
All major maritime power granted the CSA recognition as a "belligerent", meaning, in effect that the CSA was acknowledged to exist for but not yet granted "diplomatic recognition". CS vessels (naval and mercantile) were frequent visitors to ports in Britain and her colonies (including South Africa and Australia), as well as France, Spain, Brazil and others. The first time a CS naval vessel visited Cuba (The CSS Sumter in 1861) questions were raised about her flag, but once the colonial authorities were pointed to the Spanish royal government’s declaration of recognition of the CSA as a "belligerent" all was well.
Devereaux Cannon, 18 January 1999
After the Second National flag in 1863, the Naval Jack changed to the rectangular version of that canton. The Second National then replaced the First National flag for the stern. Thusly, the naval jack also changed to a rectangular version of the new flags canton.
Notice that the naval jack uses a lighter blue color to make up the St. Andrews Cross or saltire than that of the Second and Third national flag and that of the Battle Flag. The naval jack of the CSS Shenandoah was the last Confederate flag to be lowered at the end of the War Between the States. It was lowered on November 7, 1865 in Liverpool, England.
