A ship's commissioning or masthead pendant is said to have originated from Blake's Whip, in commemoration of his driving the Dutch from the seas in 1653. Though it is not doubted that Blake hoisted a whip to his masthead on that occasion , the masthead pendant originated much earlier, probably in the 14th century when ensigns and pendants were first authorised in the Royal Navy. Blake had done this in defiance of the Dutch admiral Tromp who had the previous year hoisted a broom to his masthead, signifying that he had swept the British from the seas. Nowadays a broom hoisted in a merchant ship indicates change of ownership, i.e. "a new broom sweeps clean", while in the navy it is used more as Tromp did, as a sign of victory over other ships of a flotilla in all events of general drills or a regatta.
