COLLECTION SPOTLIGHT: U.S.S. Stewart’s Commissioning Pennant

The U.S.S. Stewart’s Commissioning Pennant was flown ceremoniously from the day she was commissioned until the day she was stricken from the U.S. Navy’s fleet.

As U.S. Navy and maritime tradition dates back, every commissioned warship has flown a pennant of similar design, with either 7 or 13 stars on a blue field, followed by a single stripe of white and red. Initially designed to identify warships from merchant ships, the size of these pennants has dramatically diminished over the years, especially as the ease of identification of warships versus merchant ships is most obvious.

Flown now for tradition and ceremony, the pennant in our collection is approximately 3 feet long and shows 7 stars

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