flag officer
3
8.5
- noun
- /flæɡ ˈɔfɪsər/
- Specialized
:
oficial de bandera
- The flag officer made critical decisions during the naval operation.
- general and flag officer
Examples
-
Blinding in their white uniforms, naval flag officers sit in the audience, showing their support for Theodore Hayes, a 50-year-old civilian.
Fiction book (1997) -
Deputy flag officer, submarines.
-
My brother was a flag officer.
Blog text (18) -
Hayes and two flag officers wait. # HAYES #
Fiction book (1997) -
All flag officers and all persons in or belonging to His Majesty.
Blog text (19) -
The flag officers go stone-faced.
Fiction book (1997) -
Though I do not know the admiral, I do know a number of flag officers in the naval services who speak well of him and his service to the nation.
Blog text (15) -
Even as of January 1994, the majority of all black generals and flag officers in the U.S. Armed Forces are graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Academic text (1996) -
Recently, I noted the comments of a retired flag officer, who, though historically a strong Republican, noted his strong discontent with the way the Pentagon had been politicized.
Blog text (9) -
Only a flag officer can command a fleet and make strategic moves.
Synonyms
106
5.4
A senior navy officer who commands a group of ships
2
6.1
A senior navy officer who commands a group of ships and ranks above a captain
1
6.8
A senior navy officer below the top rank
1
8.2
A top officer who commands all ships in a country's navy
1
6.0
A senior navy officer who leads a fleet of warships
A very senior navy officer who commands a fleet of ships
Surface Forms
Morphology
A learner who knows 'flag' (an emblem flown to denote authority) and 'officer' (a person with military rank) can infer that a 'flag officer' is an officer associated with a flag and therefore someone with command status. However, the precise, technical sense—that it denotes a senior naval rank entitled to fly a command flag—is institutional and culturally specific and not fully predictable from the parts alone, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The noun flag officer comes from navy ships where a senior officer flew a flag from their ship to show they were in charge. That's why the phrase means 'a senior officer in the navy who is in command'.