During the 18th and 19th centuries, sailing warships were among the most complicated pieces of equipment created and used by man. Their design and construction were both sciences and art forms, and they required dozens of highly experienced master craftsmen to direct their building. Each required a high level of expertise on the part of their officers and their crews to operate safely, plus an amazing level of courage to fight in battle. With their sails spread, each warship was a beautiful sight; but at the same time each represented a serious projection of naval power. Wooden sailing warships dominated the oceans from the beginning of the seventeenth century until near the end of the nineteenth century, using sails as their primary means of propulsion for all but the last few decades of this time.

The Broad Pennant is intended to present information on miniature naval wargaming in the classic period of the Age of Sail. This includes help on assembling, painting, and completing models appropriate for such wargames. Additional information is also provided on the ships, tactics, and organizations of the times.

The Classic Period of the Age of Sail

The "classic period" is defined here to include the early colonial wars, the Seven Years War, the American Revolution, the wars of revolutionary France, the Napoleonic wars, and the years immediately after the end of the Napoleonic wars. That is, from about 1750 until just after 1815.

What is a Broad Pennant?

A "Broad Pennant" is the command flag used by many navies to indicate the presence in command of a unit of naval vessels of an officer with the rank of Commodore. The form or shape of this command flag is itself called a "broad pennant", that is, a flag which is a swallow-tailed trapezoidal pennant.

This should not be confused with a "broad command pennant", which is a flag of similar shape but different markings used to indicate the command vessel of a unit commanded by an officer below the rank of Commodore in the United States Navy.

The rank of Commodore falls between the rank of Captain and Rear Admiral. The exact relation between these three ranks depends on the individual naval service and the historical time period. This rank is no longer used by the major navies of the world, having been dropped in most cases sometime in the mid to later twentieth century.

The Broad Pennant shown on this site is that used by the United States Navy from 1812 to 1853. A ring of white stars surrounds a single central white star, all on a dark blue broad pennant. The total numbers of stars is equal to the number of states. This replaced, and was later replaced by, a similar pennant without the ring of stars but with a larger central star.