I'm guessing that might be the "alpha" (first) chapter of the sorority.

any other guesses?

I've also heard the term flagship in reference to the top performing chapter or the chapter with the highest honors. One through which new initiatives are tested.

To go into a little more detail. A chapter can only get quota additions if they follow the numbers the RFM specialist tells them to cut/invite back after each party. The number is based on how well that chapter has done such as return rate, if the chapter met quota, how girls ranked them after each party. All these variables turn into a formula and a magic number comes out! When a chapter follows this, it helps (but does not insure) that the chapter meets quota while still looking selective.

I have never heard the term. Maybe you mean the founding chapter of an NPC sorority, designated as the Alpha chapter by most sororities. If someone else knows something, I'm interested to learn as well!

Flagship chapter is usually one held up as a leader or example. For example I found a Pike newsletter that described their Beta Mu chapter as "the flagship chapter of the southwest." Whether it's an official designation in an organization or not, it means you win awards, are a strong chapter, have high GPAs, all the things that your org cares about.

I don't usually see it used for NPCs, but NPHCs and NICs tend to use it a lot.

It has been many weeks and I haven't posted anything, so I decided I'd come do a post. I don't want to out myself though so I apologize for being vague and continuing to withhold details, but I'm still going to remain anonymous for now.

Basically though, my journey into Greek Life isn't quite done, and I'm still trying to not jeopardize anything for myself. Once all is said and done I will have a story... But there's more to come yet. It has been unexpected but I'm going with the flow.

Once again, thanks to everybody for all their help in answering my questions, support, encouragement etc. I appreciate it very much!

Good luck and I hope you find your home!

I would also think it's either the founding chapter or the oldest existing chapter of the sorority. ie Epsilon Chapter would be the flagship for Theta Phi since it has survived longer than any other chapter.....
Just my guess. I could be wrong.

The flagship chapter or office of anything is the one to which the other chapters should aspire. In many cases, it also means the first, since in a flotilla, the first ship usually carried the main flag.

I think any Greek chapter calling itself a "flagship" is stupid. Unless there's one good chapter in the national org and 100 shitty ones, the holder of the top honors is going to change every year or two. If you mean you won the InsertYourGroup'sTopAwardHere, then just say that, and explain to rushees what it means. If you're the first chapter, say you're the first chapter.

And if you're calling yourself that just because you happen to be the largest chapter, or at the most prestigious school, you are probably a fleet of douchecanoes. Kind of shoots the "being in a national group is awesome cause we all feel the love" concept to hell when you say you're better than all the rest of them.

Good luck, CherrySonata! It's always wise to err on the side of caution here (which you appear to have done a good job of in this thread), so you're probably smart to wait. Hopefully everything is going well for you!

I don't think any chapter SHOULD call themselves the flagship. That's an honor that should be conveyed by the Executive Officer or other barometor of What Should Be Done.

A HQ could say, "When it comes to fundraising, our PQ chapter is our flagship operation," or "RS is our flagship chapter for Recruitment," etc. I would be completely disgusted with one chapter saying it about themselves - that goes against everything we're to believe in.

LOL, thank you all for the feedback :D At this point I can't remember where I saw the term used, so I can't clarify :( I'm sorry.

Thanks again for the positive feedback. I'll probably pop in and out over the next few weeks/months if I have questions, but for now I'm gonna do my best to keep a low profile ;) Thank you all for being so understanding!

And you can erm... continue to post your thoughts on flagship if you want :p

LOVE this word - can I use it?

Re: flagship: It could also be the first NPC sorority on that particular campus.