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Army rank flags (Australia)

Last modified: 2019-07-30 by ian macdonald
Keywords: australia | stars: southern cross | southern cross | crown | lion | sun: rising | swords: crossed |
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Command Pennants

The following flags are all Army car flags, 15cm by 23cm in size, known as command "pennants" in official Army parlance, even if they rectangular. Before the days of metrication, they followed the traditional British size of 6 inches by 9 inches.

The source for the entire is the Australian Army Ceremonial Manual, Volume 1, Annex E to Chapter 22, available as a PDF file.
Miles Li, 6-8 November 2007

Deputy Chief of Army

[Deputy Chief of Army command pennant] image by Miles Li, 6 November 2007

Command pennant of Deputy Chief of Army, a Major General (2 stars).
Miles Li, 6 November 2007

Commander Land Command

[Commander Land Command command pennant] image by Miles Li, 6 November 2007

Command pennant of Commander Land Command, a Major General (2 stars).
Miles Li, 6 November 2007

Special Operations Commander

[Special Operations Commander command pennant] image by Miles Li, 6 November 2007

Command pennant of Special Operations Commander, a Major General (2 stars).
Miles Li, 6 November 2007

Support Commander - Army

[Support Commander - Army command pennant] image by Miles Li, 6 November 2007

Command pennant of Support Commander - Army, a Major General (2 stars).
Miles Li, 6 November 2007

Commander Training Command - Australia

[Commander Training Command - Australia command pennant] image by Miles Li, 7 November 2007

The command "pennant" of another Major General (2-star) of the Australian Army, namely that of Commander Training Command - Australia. It has the Army's Rising Sun badge in black (or rather the silhouette of it!) on a green-gold-green horizontal tricolour.
Miles Li, 7 November 2007

General Officer Commanding an Army

[General Officer Commanding an Army command pennant] image by Miles Li, 8 November 2007

The command "pennant" of a General Officer Commanding an Army (no specified rank in Australia) is a straightforward copy of its British counterpart, except for proportions. It is not defaced by any formation badge or number in current official specifications.
Miles Li, 8 November 2007

General Officer Commanding a Corps

[General Officer Commanding a Corps command pennant] image by Miles Li, 8 November 2007

The command "pennant" of a General Officer Commanding a Corps (no specified rank in Australia) is a straightforward copy of its British counterpart, except for proportions. It is not defaced by any formation badge or number in current official specifications.
Miles Li, 8 November 2007

General Officer Commanding a Division

[General Officer Commanding a Division command pennant without formation numbers] image by Miles Li, 8 November 2007

The command "pennant" of a General Officer Commanding a Division (a Major General - 2 stars) is a straightforward copy of its British counterpart, except for proportions. It is defaced with formation numbers in white.
Miles Li, 8 November 2007

Brigade/Task Force Commander

[Brigade/Task Force Commander command pennant without formation numbers] image by Miles Li, 8 November 2007

The command "pennant" of a Brigade/Task Force Commander (a Brigadier - 1 star, or a Colonel) is a straightforward copy of its British counterpart, except for proportions. It is defaced with formation numbers in white.
Miles Li, 8 November 2007

Commandant Royal Military College Duntroon

[Commandant Royal Military College Duntroon command pennant] image by Miles Li, 8 November 2007

Command "pennant" of the Commandant Royal Military College Duntroon (currently a Brigadier - 1 star).
Miles Li, 8 November 2007

Commander of a Military Region

[Commander of a Military Region command pennant without emblem] image by Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Command "pennant" of a Commander of a Military Region, a command held by a Brigadier (1 star) or a Colonel. It is defaced with the military region's emblem.
Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Army Area Representative

[Army Area Representative command pennant] image by Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Command "pennant" of an Army Area Representative, a command held by a Brigadier (1 star) or a Colonel.
Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Commander of a Communications Zone

[Commander of a Communications Zone command pennant] image by Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Command "pennant" of a Commander of a Communications Zone, a command held by a Brigadier (1 star) or a Colonel.
Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Commander of a Training Group or an Army School

[Commander of a Training Group or an Army School command pennant] image by Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Command "pennant" of a Commander of a Training Group or an Army School, a command held by a Brigadier (1 star) or a Colonel.
Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Australian Army Attache/Advisor

[Australian Army Attache/Advisor command pennant] image by Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Command "pennant" of an Australian Army Attaché/Advisor, a command held by a Brigadier (1 star) or a Colonel.
Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Commander Logistic Support Force

There is also the command "pennant" for the Commander Logistic Support Force, officially described as "red triangle over a green triangle". Whether this means a red-over-green bicolour triangular flag, or a red triangular flag above a green triangular flag, or a green triangular flag defaced with a red triangle, is not quite clear!
Miles Li, 10 November 2007

Authorisations for the above military flags

The four flags listed above as being derived from British Army flags, existed since at least 1935 or 1941 in plain and defaced forms. They were included in the Australian Military Regulations 1927 until repealed on 26 February 1947 and later authorised in a variety of Army administrative 'instruments'. Sizes of the flags were nine inches by six inches for motor car use and 18 inches by 12 inches for use by mounted orderlies. For those flags flown in a boat or vessel, the flag was to be six feet by three feet.

Red over black over red (Flag, distinguishing, Headquarters of an Army) First appeared in the civil law Australian Military Regulations 1927 from 23 January 1941. In this law it was defaced on both sides with the Royal Crest in gold above a white scroll with 'Military Board' on it. For use on cars and by mounted orderlies, but not on boats and vessels, for all members of the Military Board. This flag was suspended with the Military Board itself a little over a year later, but at that time the undefaced version was approved for the use of a General Officer commanding an Army.

Red over white over red (Flag, distinguishing, Headquarters of a Corps) First appeared in the civil law Australian Military Regulations 1927 from 23 January 1941. Some were defaced for District Commandants with the number of their Military District on it in black.

Red swallowtail (Flag, distinguishing, Headquarters of a Division or other formation) First appeared in the civil law Australian Military Regulations 1927 from 16 October 1935. It was defaced with the number of a Division, Military District &c as applicable in white on both sides. 'C' was added for a cavalry formation, 'RMC' was added for the Commandant, Royal Military College. From 28 April 1937 an amendment to the Regulations discontinued it's use by District Base Commandants and the Commandant, Royal Military College. Both were granted other flags to fly.

Blue Pendant (Flag, distinguishing, brigade. Triangular blue pendant) First appeared in the civil law Australian Military Regulations 1927 from 16 October 1935 for use by Brigade Commanders.
Jeff Thomson, 13 July 2019

An embarrassing incident involving the red-over-black-over-red flag

In a memo to the Army Headquarters in Melbourne dated 28 March 1947, Lieutenant-General (later Sir) Frank Berryman, GOC Eastern Command, reported a remarkable incident that had recently occurred. Paragraph 2 stated;-

'Recently, when I made an official call on the Rear Admiral Commanding H.M.A. Squadron, I was accorded a salute of fifteen guns and it was desired to fly my flag from the fore-mast of the Flag ship, but as it coincided with the colours of the Albanian flag the Red Ensign was flown in lieu.'

The Naval officer concerned was Rear Admiral Harold Farncomb, and by 'Albanian flag' Lieutenant-General Berryman presumably meant the Albanian civil ensign, which this Army flag does closely resemble. The reason for flying a Red Ensign (whether British or Australian) is unclear. As the flag of the Commonwealth government and the Army, the Australian Blue Ensign would seem to be the more appropriate flag to fly in lieu. Until 26 January 1947 the correct flag to fly for a General Officer commanding a Command was a Union Flag defaced with a garlanded Royal Cypher surmounted by a crown, but it lapsed when the legislative provisions for it's use were repealed. As a result of this incident, and acting upon Lieutenant-General Berryman's suggestion, the defaced Union Flag was reinstated for several more years under AMR&O 1195 for use on boats and vessels but not on cars. Other Army flags constituted under AMR&O 1195 were the RAE and the RAAOC badged British Blue Ensigns flown in many Army watercraft.
Jeff Thomson, 13 July 2019