This US Navy flattop has been sailing the high seas with a Captain America battle flag and a flight deck full of a F-35 stealth fighters

• The US Navy amphibious assault ship USS America, a first-in-class ship, has been sailing the Pacific with a new battle flag, one with Captain America's almost-indestructible shield on it, as The Drive first noticed.
• "The iconic Captain America symbol - the First Avenger for this first-in-class fifth-generation amphibious assault ship - was the perfect fit," Capt. Luke Frost, the ship's commanding officer, told Insider.
• He said the choice was "bold, graphic, with a clear patriotic and easily-identifiable association with the name 'America.'"
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A US Navy flattop deployed to the Pacific has been flying a battle flag featuring the iconic red, white and blue shield of the first Avenger, photos from the ship's deployment show.

The USS America (LHA-6), the first of a new class of amphibious assault ship, chose its battle flag, also known as a house flag, just before it deployed to the Indo-Pacific late last year.

The ship, the fourth to bear the name America, went for the superhero treatment.

"The iconic Captain America symbol - the First Avenger for this first-in-class fifth-generation amphibious assault ship - was the perfect fit," Capt. Luke Frost, the ship's commanding officer, told Insider.

Frost said the flag choice was "bold, graphic, with a clear patriotic and easily-identifiable association with the name 'America.'"

In the vast Marvel Comics universe, Captain America, whose alter ego is Steve Rogers, is a patriotic supersoldier who fought the Axis Powers before being trapped in ice and revived in the modern age.

An experimental serum gave the Army soldier his power, but it is his almost-indestructible circular vibranium shield that is most representative of the character created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in the 1940s.

Captain America is more than just Rogers. Others, such as close friend and Air Force veteran Sam Wilson, aka The Falcon, have also taken up the shield and the captain's mantle to carry on the fight. And now, a ship filled with Navy sailors and Marines have made the fictional weapon its emblem- in a show of joint warfighting at its best.

The first US naval vessel to bear the name "America" was a 74-gun ship of the line, the first ordered for the Continental Navy. The name was passed on to a troop transport vessel and later to a Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier.

The current USS America, which was commissioned in 2014, is different from other amphibious assault ships in that it lacks a well deck and features increased space for aviation assets.

The Navy and the Marines have used the ship for "Lightning Carrier" experiments, which have involved loading the ship up with a heavy configuration of F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters.

In photos from the amphibious assault ship's recent deployment, a collection of stealth fighters could be seen on the America's deck as the new battle flag flew above.

Battle flags are a Navy tradition with a long history."From Oliver Hazard Perry's 'Don't Give Up the Ship' flag at the Battle of Lake Erie to George Dewey's 'FIGHT!' flag in the Battle of Manila and into the modern era, battle flags or 'house flags' have been used to motivate, rally, and inspire ship's Sailors and Marines," the America's CO told Insider. "These flags express unit pride and the fighting spirit of the crew."

In addition to its new flag, the America also features a number of other star-spangled decorations, such as the doors of the RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) launcher cells, The Drive, which first reported the ship's new flag, noted.