Did you know the beautiful flag pole at OCC was a gift from the students in 1953 and installed in 1954? Amazingly, the flagpole is not without frequent questions by local citizens and students. I quickly searched the OCC newspaper archives and found feature stories on this topic in 1957, 1960, and 1971... Everyone knows that the U.S.A. flag is always at the highest point on a single pole or the most elevated position if there are multiple flag poles. But OCC's flagpole is a nautical flag pole that follows the following protocol:
The flag at the top of the mast indicates the vessel's fleet. The fleet means the ownership of the vessel, be it a navy or a private shipping company. The flag of the country the ship sails from (national ensign) is in the place of honor at the end of a gaff-rigged pole under the top of the mast. Signal flags are generally flown from the yardarms -- the outer ends of the pole which crosses the mast.
