Captain Commandant In charge of the service at the Headquarters in Washington, D. C. Senior Captain In charge of a Division of the Service. Captain Command of a Cruising Cutter. First Lieutenant Command of a Harbor Cutter or Executive Officer of a Cruising Cutter. Second Lieutenant } Watch Officer on a Cruising Cutter. Third Lieutenant } Engineer Captains and Lieutenants perform engineering duty on the cruising and harbor cutters in accordance with their rank. WARRANT OFFICERS Keepers are in charge of the Life-Saving stations all along the coast of the United States, while the other warrant officers, Boatswains, Gunners, Machinists and Carpenters, perform duties of the same nature as the corresponding ranks in the Navy. The petty officers and seamen perform the duties as indicated by their “ratings,” similar to those performed by men of like “ratings” in the Navy. In the Lighthouse Service the appropriate commands and duties performed by the officers and men in the various ranks and ratings are as indicated by their titles and ratings, these duties in general being similar to those performed by the officers and men of various grades in the other Sea Services in so far as these duties apply to the peculiar needs of the Lighthouse Service afloat and ashore. [Illustration: UNITED STATES NATIONAL FLAG] [Illustration: PRESIDENT’S FLAG] [Illustration: SECRETARY OF WAR _For Asst. Sec’y. white flag with red stars and emblem_ UNION JACK SECRETARY OF THE NAVY _For Asst. Sec’y. white flag with blue stars and anchor_] [Illustration: ADMIRAL VICE ADMIRAL REAR ADMIRAL SENIOR IN RANK _For junior in rank, red field_] [Illustration: SENIOR OFFICER’S PENNANT COMMISSION PENNANT ENSIGNS, FLAGS AND PENNANTS.] CHAPTER III ENSIGNS, FLAGS AND PENNANTS The National Flag of a country is the flag which bears the device of the nation, the emblem by which the nationality of the state is shown. An Ensign is the flag or insignia used to show the nationality of the armed forces of a nation; more properly speaking, it is the colors displayed by a ship of war or carried by a regiment of soldiers. In some countries flags of different designs from those of their national flags are prescribed to be carried by the troops of the armies or displayed as “colors” by the ships of war, but in the United States of America the National Flag, the “Stars and Stripes,” is carried by the Army and displayed as the colors by all ships of the Navy. The flag of the United States was authorized by a resolution of Congress of June 14, 1777, reading as follows: _Resolved_, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.