A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark where the officer exercises command. The term usually, but not exclusively, refers to the senior officers in an English-speaking nation's navy, specifically those who hold any of the admiral ranks; in some cases it applies also to those holding the rank of commodore. In U.S. usage it is additionally applied to Coast Guard officers and general officers in the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps entitled to fly their own flags.
Read more about Flag Officer: General Usage, Canada, United Kingdom, United States
Famous quotes containing the words flag and/or officer:
“Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.”
—Stephen Crane (1871–1900)
“There was something so free and self-contained about him, something in the young fellow’s movements, that made that officer aware of him. And this irritated the Prussian. He did not choose to be touched into life by his servant.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)