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Southern Yacht Club (U.S.)

Mississippi

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

Description of the flag
1896 flags
1891 flags

See also:

Description of the flag

The Southern Yacht Club was founded in 1849, at Pass Christian, Mississippi, USA. This makes them the second oldest USA yacht club, behind the New York Yacht Club. In 1857 they changed their location to New Orleans, with Lake Pontchartrain as their home waters. After the Restoration and the events that went before that, they eventually built a clubhouse on the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain. Since then, ever fifty years or so, they built a new clubhouse, as circumstances would dictate. [5]

The current burgee of the Southern is an approximately 2:3 blue burgee, with white flyward edges. On the blue in white is the text "S.Y.C." in all-caps.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

1896 flags

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

Though the current burgee was already shown in use in 1903 [1], previously the burgee looked somewhat differently. In 1896 [2] it was a broad pennant along the same lines.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

This entry [2] also depicts three officer's flags: Commodore, vice-commodore and rear commodore. Each of these is a decrescent moon tilted upward accompanied of three five-pointed stars 2 and 1. Commodore is white on blue, vice-commodore is white on red, and rear commodore is red on white. At the least the commodore's flag was still in use as of 2018. [3]
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

Commodore 1896

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

Vice-commodore 1896

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

Rear commodore 1896

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

Past commodore 1896

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 29 June 2022

Commodore, vice-commodore and rear commodore had a different design before that, in 1891. Each of these was a straight increscent moon accompanied of three five-pointed stars 2 and 1. Commodore is white on blue, vice-commodore is white on red, and rear commodore is red on white. [4] This may or may not have been the first officer's flag of the Southern, though it should be noticed that it was only in 1854 that the term "commodore" was used [5]. Obviously, by 1896 it had been changed.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

Apparently at some point, which even the club don't seem to know, their By-Laws gave in and joined the bland flags used by the majority. Then in 2013, people apparently came to their senses and approved the unique flags of the SYC again. As the standard flags had since become a set of four, a specific pseudo-old-style flag was adopted for the Past Commodore.

Thus, the note that "At the least the commodore's flag was still in use as of 2018. [3]" is not correct. Instead, since 2018 is after 2013, "At the least the commodore's flag was again in use as of 2018. [3]"
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 29 June 2022

1891 flags

Commodore 1891

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

Vice-Commodore 1891

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

Rear Commodore 1891

image by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020

Sources

1 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts [1903-4]
2 The American Yacht List - Thomas Manning [1896]
3 Article with photograph behind a paywall at www.nola.com
4 The American Yacht List - Thomas Manning [1891]
5 A Brief History: http://www.southernyachtclub.org/Default.aspx?pageid=384486

Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 May 2020