The flag of the vice president of the United States consists of the U.S. vice presidential coat of arms on a white background, with four dark blue stars in the corners. A version of the flag is kept in the vice president's office, is sometimes displayed by the vice president in official photos, and is flown on the vice president's motorcade.
The first official flag for the vice president was specified in 1936, although a special design was used at least twice during the 1910s. The flag has shared the same design as the vice presidential seal since 1948, and the current flag dates from 1975 when it was redesigned during the presidency of Gerald Ford.
Design The vice president's flag is defined in :
Attached to the order were illustrations of the seal and flag, and also a set of "specifications" for the flag, which defines more precise colors for the elements than does the blazon (written description) of the coat of arms:Executive Order 11884
The design of the eagle is basically identical to that in the presidential flag. Other than a slightly shorter, receded central tail feather (rectrix) which was perhaps inadvertent all of the differences are in coloration. The written design specifies silver gray for the clouds and stars above the eagle's head, the scroll, and the arrows; these are "proper" (i.e. naturally colored), argent, white, and proper respectively in the president's seal and flag. In the flag specifications, the chief (upper third area) of the shield is dark blue (rather than the light blue specified for the presidential flag), the stem of the olive branch is brown (the presidential flag uses green), and the olives are just green (instead of specifically light green).
The background color of the flag, as on all historical versions, is white. The vice president's coat of arms does not have a ring of stars around the eagle like the president's does, but on the flag, four blue stars are added, one in the each corner.The Eagle and the Shield, p. 466-467
Sizes
The dimensions of all the elements in the flag are relative to the hoist (vertical size) of the flag. The relative length of the flag varies; each military service typically defines several sizes and dimensions depending on use. The coat of arms stays centered, while the four stars stay a fixed distance from the edges, so on longer flags the stars will be further apart.
A U.S. Navy ship will fly the flag while the vice president is aboard; either 3 feet 7 inches by 5 ft. 1½ in. (size 6, for ships over 600 feet long) or 1 ft. 10 in. by 2 ft. 8 in. (size 7, for ships under 600 feet). For onshore use, the dimensions are either 3 ft. 7 in. by 5 ft. 1½ in. or 1 ft. 10 in. by 2 ft. 8 in. depending on the size of the flagpole. For indoor use, a blue fringe of 2½ inches is added along with blue and white tassels. When in either small boats or automobiles, the flag is 1 ft. by 1 ft. 3 in., and on airplanes, a version 11 by 14 inches can either be printed on each side of the plane or on a detachable metal plate. The sizes for shipboard use are in section 905, and boats/autos in section 1101 (precise dimensions for both in Annex D, page D-9). Onshore sizes specified in section 1504 (depends on if the flagpole is taller than 35 feet or not), and the aircraft plates are in section 1402. The tassel information is in section 1723, while the vice president's flag itself (along with its fringe size) is in section 1802. Notes on the manner of displaying are in section 901.
The U.S. Army also has several sizes for different uses. For indoor display the color is used; this is 4 ft. 4 in. by 5 ft. 6 in. with a 2½ in. fringe. A field flag is 6 ft. 8 in. by 12 ft. with no fringe, a boat flag is 3 by 4 ft. with no fringe, and the automobile flag is 1 ft. by 1 ft. 6 in. with a 1½ in. fringe. The Army also allows aluminum plates printed with the flag design (without fringe) to be placed on cars and aircraft; cars use a plate 6 by 9 inches, airplanes 11 by 14 inches, and helicopters 17 by 21¾ inches. Table 1-1 defines which flags can be used for the vice president. The dimensions for the indoor color are in section 3-2; the field flag in 3-39; the boat flag 3-40; the auto flag 3-41; the auto plate 3-42; and the aircraft plates 3-43.
Usage
The vice president's color (with fringe, tassels, and ornamental flagstaff) is displayed in the office, usually along with the flag of the United States and sometimes others, and sometimes as a backdrop when speaking.
The flag will be flown from the after masthead of a U.S. Navy ship while the vice president is aboard, and the Navy also prescribes several other flag sizes to use in various situations when the vice president is present. Similarly, the Army prescribes use of the color (with fringe) or flag (without fringe) in different situations when the vice president is present.
History The first official flag for the vice president came in 1936, long after flags were designed for most other high government officials, though on two earlier occasions (1915 and 1919) a specially designed, unofficial flag was used for the vice president when he was representing the president at official functions. Since 1948, the flag has contained the vice presidential coat of arms, the central part of the vice presidential seal. One common thread through all the flag designs is a white background; the presidential flag has (almost) always had a blue background.
Early naval honors In 1857, the Navy proposed honoring the president and vice president by flying the national flag at the mainmast, with the president receiving a 21-gun salute and the vice president an 18-gun version. This was not adopted, but the Naval Regulations of April 18, 1865 specified that the national flag should be flown at the mainmast during a visit from the president, and at the foremast if the vice president was aboard. Subsequent regulations switched between the national flag and union jack for the honors, but the December 31, 1869 regulations reverted to the same honors as 1865.
Unofficial 1915 flag
In March 1915, Vice President Thomas R. Marshall was sent to the Panama–Pacific International Exposition to represent President Wilson, which was to include a ceremony aboard a U.S. Navy ship. While most other high government officials had personal flags by this time, there was no such flag for the vice president. This article also describes the upcoming flag as having a "blue bird", which was incorrect, as it was the full-color version of the president's flag which was used. It is possible the author thought the 1902 president's flag, with the white eagle, was being reversed—that would have required a blue eagle on a white background (which was indeed the basic design of the later 1936 vice president's flag). Therefore, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt (who was also going, to represent Daniels) decided to create one, and chose to use a version of the president's flag (which had a depiction of the Great Seal of the United States) with a white background instead of blue. Accordingly, on March 6, a telegram was sent to the Mare Island Navy Yard, asking for two versions of this flag be made of the same dimensions as the president's flag (size #1, 10.2 by 16 feet, and size #6, 3.6 by 5.13 feet). The design was to be the same as the president's flag, except with a white field (background) instead of blue, and asked for delivery before March 20 (about when Marshall would arrive). Since the president's flag took a full month to make from scratch, this was actually very short notice, and the telegram suggested modifying existing presidential flags to save time. The flags were delivered on March 19.
The basic design was therefore a full-color version of the obverse side of the Great Seal of the United States, i.e. the eagle grasping an olive branch and thirteen arrows, with a constellation of stars surrounded by a ring of clouds over it, on a white background. The color specifications given by the Navy were:
Another contemporary description was as follows: The "same effect" is presumably in reference to the 1902 president's flag, which omitted the ring of clouds above the eagle and had a "starburst" of only yellow rays instead. The white clouds of the full-color president's flag on the white background would give a similar effect.
The Secretary of the Navy's flag is blue with a white anchor and stars on it; the flag of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy uses the same design with the colors reversed (blue stars and anchor on a white background). The same concept was used for the vice president's flag, and has since become the standard system in the U.S. Government for differencing the flags of the first and second ranking civilian officials in any hierarchy, In 1940, an Undersecretary of the Navy position was created below the Secretary but above the Assistant, whose flag is a white anchor and stars on a red background. and would be repeated on all subsequent vice presidential flags.
Vice President Marshall arrived at the Exposition on March 20, 1915. On March 22, he attended a ceremony in San Francisco Harbor aboard the heavy cruiser USS Colorado, at the time serving as Admiral Thomas B. Howard's flagship for the Pacific Fleet. At 3:15 in the afternoon, Marshall boarded the ship, and the vice president's flag was raised at the mainmast. (In an oft-retold story, while trying to hold his cane, cigar, and top hat in his left hand so he could return a salute with his right, Marshall was unprepared for the 19-gun salute and sent all of the items flying in the air.)
The flag was used on at least one other occasion, in 1919. Due to President Wilson's recent stroke, Vice President Marshall once again needed to represent the President, hosting King Albert and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium (and their son, the Duke of Brabant) on their trip to Washington, D.C. from October 27 to 29, 1919. Part of the schedule involved a trip on the presidential yacht USS Mayflower from the Washington Navy Yard to Mount Vernon on the last day, so accordingly two flags (the same sizes as in 1915) were ordered on October 23 and delivered on October 28. The president's flag had been redesigned in the interim, but the same 1915 design for the vice president's flag was apparently used again for this occasion.The Eagle and the Shield, p. 460-461. The notes on page 460 say the Army Institute of Heraldry has photos of these flags, apparently from both occasions. The Vice President boarded first, so his flag was hoisted at the mainmast. The Belgian royalty boarded an hour later, at which point the Belgian national ensign was raised at the mainmast, with the vice president's flag being shifted to the foremast, per Navy regulations.
Originally, several reports said the 1915 design was intended to be the official flag for the vice president, but no such official order is known. Following the 1915 ceremony, Marshall asked to keep the flags, and they were given to him. A flag of this design, presumably either from 1915 or 1919, is housed at the Scottish Rite Masonic Cathedral in Fort Wayne, Indiana (Vice President Marshall's hometown).
1936 flag