U.S. 50 Star Jack - USS Truxton Nuclear Guided Missile Cruiser 1967-1997.
The USS Truxton, originally a guided missile destroyer leader (DLGN-35), was a upgraded to a guided missile cruiser (CGN-35), that was commissioned in the U.S. Navy from 1967 to 1995.

The ship, one of five that have been named for Thomas Truxton (also sometimes spelled Truxtun),1755 1822, was an American ships captain, privateer, and naval officer who rose to the rank of commodore. He operated as a highly successful privateer during the American Revolutionary War, capturing many enemy ships, not once suffering a defeat. After the war he returned to the merchant marine, where he remained for until the Quasi-War with France. He was appointed captain in the United States Navy in 1794, was given command of the USS Constellation.
Truxton was promoted to commodore and met with considerable success. His victories, perhaps most notably that over the French vessel L'Insurgente, made Truxtun a hero of the time. Consequently, he was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal on March 29, 1800, becoming the eighth recipient of that bodys "highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions.

This jack is a blue nylon field, with 50 embroidered white stars in horizontal rows and had been the standard jack of the United States since 1960. Jacks are flown on the jacktaff at the bow of all U.S. naval vessels while at anchor or while dressing ship. It is also flown from the yardarm during a general court-martial or court of inquiry. During times when the ensign is at half mast, the jack is also at half mast. The jack is hoisted smartly and lowered ceremoniously in the same manner as the ensign; however the jack is not dipped when the ensign is dipped

The jack is a maritime flag of national character. The U.S. Navy is the primary user of jacks, but they are also worn by ships of the US Coast Guard, US Military Sealift Command, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other US governmental entities. They are occasionally worn by merchant and civilian pleasure vessels.

This Jack was gifted to Ms. Jean Hofmeister, the President of the Star Spangled Banner Flag House Museum (SSBFHM), in 1975 by the then Secretary of the Navy John William Middendorf, in the interest of Cmdr. Barbara J. Kelly, Director of Community Relations, Washington. The SSBFHM was formed in 1927 to operate a museum dedicated to the story of Mary Young Pickersgill who made the enormous 30 x 42-foot Star-Spangled Banner that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became our National Anthem. Mary Pickersgill's flag still survives and now hangs at the Smithsonian Institution's, National Museum of American History. As one of the earliest associations dedicated to the study of flags, The Flag House & Star-Spangled Banner Museum also became a repository for flags from other eras, and amassed one of the most significant flag collections in the nation.

Secretary Middendorf, a Baltimore native, was a well known collector of flags, presenting several to the SSBFHM, he also provided a 36 Star Flag (now ZFC0680) to the Boleslaw Mastai Collection.

ZFC Significant Flag

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