Flagship (Earth-5875)

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a fleet and/or battle group, characteristically a flag officer, captain, commander, Shipmaster and Fleetmaster. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the first, largest, fastest, most heavily armed, or best known.

In the UNSC, flagships are most likely to be either carriers and cruisers in bigger fleets, while destroyers and frigates serve as flagships in smaller fleets. Within the Covenant, CCS-class battlecruisers and CAS-class assault carriers serve as flagships within normal fleets. In the case of extremely important important fleets, a flagship may be an OSS-class battlecarrier or even a CSO-class supercarrier.