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{{Short description|Initiation rite for first crossing of the equator}}
{{Cleanup rewrite|the structure, layout, grammar and style are poor|date=March 2017}}{{more citations needed|date=July 2016}}
The '''line-crossing ceremony''' is an [[initiation rite]] that commemorates a person's first crossing of the [[Equator]].<ref>Eyers, Jonathan (2011). ''Don't Shoot the Albatross!: Nautical Myths and Superstitions''. A&C Black, London, UK. {{ISBN|978-1-4081-3131-2}}.</ref> The tradition may have originated with ceremonies when passing headlands, and become a "folly" sanctioned as a boost to morale,<ref name="FitzRoy">[[Robert FitzRoy]] (1839) ''Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836'', London: Henry Colburn. pp. [http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.2&pageseq=84 57–58].</ref> or have been created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long, rough voyages. Equator-crossing ceremonies, typically featuring [[Neptune (mythology)|King Neptune]], are common in the [[Navy]] and are also sometimes carried out for passengers' entertainment on civilian ocean liners and cruise ships. They are also performed in the [[merchant navy]] and aboard sail training ships.
Throughout history, line-crossing ceremonies have sometimes become dangerous [[Hazing|hazing rituals]]. Most modern navies have instituted regulations that prohibit physical attacks on sailors undergoing the line-crossing ceremony.
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