The Signal Bridge contains nautical signal flags, information concerning flags, and other historical flags.
- When the vessel is inport or at anchor, the ship will hold morning colors at 8:00 am in the morning. This entails hoisting the Ensign (at the flagstaff) and the Jack (at the jackstaff) smartly while the national anthem is played. If the ship is in a foreign port, the national flag of the host country is displayed from the main mast. The host country's national anthem is played after the ship plays her national anthem. Evening colors are held at sunset and the Ensign and the Jack are lower slowly.
- If the ship is underway, the Ensign will fly at the mainmast and remain there 24 hours a day as long as the ship is underway.
The flag of a nation or
an organization is not just a piece of cloth, it is something
much more than that. The flag of the United States of America
represents the nation, its ideals, hopes and dreams. Many people
have fought and died for the flag, not just the cloth, but those
ideals, hopes and dreams that it represents. The flag represents
all Americans, past, present, and future and those who died both
military and civilian, so that this nation would remain .......the
land of the free.