The ARC Gloria is a training ship and official flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 of the Colombian Navy."ARC" stands for "Armada Nacional de la República de Colombia."

History

The history of the sailing ship ARC Gloria begins in 1966, when the Colombian Government, by means of Decree Number 111, authorized the National Navy, with Vice Admiral Orlando Lemaitre Torres as its commander, to acquire a three-masted barque

Barque

A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...

, as a training ship of the Colombian Navy.

It is said that at that time, in many meetings at work or in social events with the military leadership, the favorite topic of Admiral Lemaitre was the need for a training ship. His enthusiasm and clear ideas encouraged General Gabriel Rebaiz Pizarro, the Colombian Defence Minister, to support the project by taking a napkin and writing on it, "worth one sailboat," and signing it.

After this strange "pact," a formal contract was signed with the Spanish Naval Construction Company of Bilbao on 6 October 1966, and began to be fulfilled in April 1967.

The ship was commissioned on 7 September 1968, with the vessel moored at the wharf of Deusto Channel.