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The n-Gun Salute
From whence came the 21-gun salute? The origin of gun salutes is usually attributed
to soldiers or other armed types demonstrating peaceful intentions by placing their
weapons in a position that rendered them ineffective. As cannons and small arms
came into use, a good way to "render them ineffective," thereby demonstrating peaceful
intentions, was to fire them since reloading took a lot of time. At sea, seven shots
became the norm. On land, gunpowder was more plentiful, and three guns could be
fired for every one shot from a ship, so a salute from a ship of seven guns would
be answered by a salute from the shore batteries of 21 guns. For a full-honor funeral
at Arlington, a President gets 21 guns. A secretary of defense, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, or other military officer given command over multiple branches
of the service receives 19. 17 guns are fired for a four-star general, 15 for a
three-star, 13 for a two-star, 11 for a one-star.
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