Not that kind of joint…
There are essentially three types of joint arrangements for the uniformed organizations in the US government. While this is not officially official, it helps us all to peel back the layers of the language we use and the services in our government so that we can better understand our job. Let’s take a look.
In the United States, there are many organizations that work together both home and abroad to ensure our country stays safe. The members of these organizations all swear an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same”.
Each service dons a distinctive uniform that is steeped in honor, respect, symbolism, heritage, and tradition. Each service is represented by a distinctive flag that depicts that same honor, respect, symbolism, heritage, and tradition. When they are all on display, they are referred to a Joint Service display. They are organized by department (by their established date, oldest to newest). When subordinate branches of the departments are displayed, they also are in order of the date they (or their predecessor) were established by congress.
While its extremely rare, there are situations when the flags of these Departments and Service Branches are displayed together in a Joint Service Display.
First responders, read here.
We commonly call this “Joint Service”, but it really isn’t. This is the Department of Defense (est. 1789) only. The Joint Military Services in order:
We also commonly call this “Joint Service”, but it also really isn’t. The Joint Armed Forces in order:
When in congressionally declared war:
Read about Joint Armed Forces being separated for a ceremony here.
This is the true “Joint Service”. The Joint Uniformed Services, in order:
Cadet organizations are in order of the service they represent because of the uniform they wear. It doesn’t matter when the program was established.
There are other cadet programs like Marine Cadets of Iowa, Star of the Sea Cadets, and even the Sea Scouts (est. 1912, became part of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, 2019), are not officially backed by the services/US government.
J/ROTC = Junior/Reserve Officer Training Corps (federally funded), NDCC = National Defense Cadet Corps (little/no federal funding)
The above image is from the Public Health Service “Drill and Ceremonies Manual”. There is much wrong here and we need to pick it apart to understand what is going on. The photo is from a few years before the Space Force was created.
Flag order is appropriate. However, what is this for? Does each service represented here have an actual part in the ceremony? I doubt it. These flags should not be displayed together unless each was involved in the ceremony in some capacity. It’s just like when displaying positional (e.g., Secretary of Defense) or personal (e.g., General/Admiral) colors; just because Secretary or Admiral so-and-so is in the audience doesn’t mean his flag is in the display.
A Tricare flag? Tricare is a federal program that provides health insurance to active duty military, retirees, their families, and some in the Reserves. That isn’t an official department or service flag, it’s the flag of an internal program specific to the military and should not be in the display. It’s tantamount to a novelty flag (like a sports team).
Written with DeVaughn Simper, Resident Vexillologist at Colonial Flag.
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