In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First Captain", with the "flag captain" as the ship's "Second Captain".
Unlike a "captain of the fleet", a flag-captain was generally a fairly junior post-captain, as he had the Admiral to keep an eye on him, but – like a "captain of the fleet" – a "flag captain" was a post rather than a rank.
Famous quotes containing the words flag and/or captain:
“By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The captain was a duck
With a packet on his back,
And when the ship began to move
The captain said, Quack! Quack!”
—Mother Goose (fl. 17th–18th century. I saw a ship a-sailing (l. 13–16)