Last modified: 2008-08-09 by ian macdonald
Keywords: navy | cruzeiro | admiral | admiral of the fleet | vice admiral | rear admiral | star (white) |
star: 21 | star: 5 | star: 4 | star: 3 | star: 2 | anchor | anchor: 2 |
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1. The flag of an admiral (of any rank) who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Esquadra (i.e., the fleet) is same as the appropriate flag for the Commander-in-Chief's rank with an anchor added in the lower hoist quarter and a star set the in lower fly quarter.Željko Heimer, 25 March 2001
2. The flag for an admiral (of any rank) commanding a force (almirante comandante de força) is the same as the appropriate admiral's rank flag with an anchor added in the lower hoist quarter (unless the command is of a Marine force (Fuzileiros Navais), when the FN badge is set there).
I believe força refers to an operational command of any size, since there are flags
for relatively junior officers commandante de força provided for in
the Brazilian Navy Ceremonial manual, cited as
MB Cerimonial.
Joseph McMillan, 23 March 2001
Admirals of the Brazilian Navy originally flew the Cruzeiro as their flag of
rank, the point of hoist (mainmast, foremast, mizzenmast) corresponding to
their rank, as in other navies at the time. The use of stars in the upper
hoist to indicate rank (as well as the flag of the Minister of Marine with
the star of the republican coat of arms in the upper hoist) date from the
1890s.
Joseph McMillan, 28 October 2002
image by Željko
Heimer
Source: Album des Pavillons, 2000
The cruzeiro flag defaced in the canton with five white stars set in
points of an imagined pentagon. This agrees well with MB Cerimonial, apart from the question of the size
of the aditional stars. Album de Pavillons (2000) here shows the rank stars larger than the stars
forming the Cruzeiro, and in my image I used stars that are 50% larger (i.e., with 90 units hoist, the
Cruzeiro stars are inscribed in 4 unit circles and the rank stars are in 6 unit circles). But that is based
on my impressionistic feeling. MB Cerimonial does not provide an answer to this question.
Željko Heimer, 24 March 2001
image by Željko
Heimer
Source: Album des Pavillons, 2000
Almirante de esquadra is a rank title that has nothing in particular
to do with what the almirante commands.
Joseph McMillan, 23 March 2001
The Cruzeiro flag defaced in the canton with four white stars set in
points of an imagined circle at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock, and in lower
hoist quarter a slanted white anchor.
Even if Album shows here the admiral's stars of the same size as
those in the cruzeiro, I drew them larger as in the previous flag.
Željko Heimer, 24 March 2001
image by Željko
Heimer
Source: Album des Pavillons, 2000
The Cruzeiro flag defaced in the canton with four white stars set in
points of an imagined circle at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock.
Željko Heimer, 24 March 2001
image by Željko
Heimer
Source: Album des Pavillons, 2000
The Cruzeiro flag defaced in the canton with three white stars set in
points of an imagined isosceles triangle pointing up, in lower hoist
quarter a slanted white anchor, and in upper fly quarter a single
white star. If I understood the MB Ceremonial rightly, this is the flag used
instead of the "senior officers afloat" if that senior officer holds
rank of an admiral. The flag includes the appropriate number of rank stars
in canton. My guess is that all combinations (2,3,4 and 5) could in
theory be used, though I guess there would not be many chances for
higher ranking admirals not to be entitled to some other flag.
Željko Heimer, 24 March 2001
image by André Pires Godinho
image by Željko
Heimer
Source: Album des Pavillons, 2000
The cruzeiro flag defaced in the canton with three white stars set in
points of an imagined isosceles trangle pointing up.
Željko Heimer, 24 March 2001
image by Željko
Heimer
Source: Album des Pavillons, 2000
The Cruzeiro flag defaced in the canton with two white stars set
horizontally.
Željko Heimer, 24 March 2001
image by André Pires Godinho