In military parlance, an order was a command, direction, or instruction from a superior officer. A variant of the order was the direct order, which was an order given face-to-face from a superior officer to a subordinate, while a counterorder or countermand was an order that was opposite to that of a previous order. A rescinded order was belayed.
The job of a Starfleet officer, according to Fleet Admiral Charles Vance in the 32nd century, was to follow orders. (DIS: "Scavengers")
Captain Jean-Luc Picard was ordered to take command of the USS Enterprise-D by Admiral Norah Satie. (TNG: "All Good Things...")
Lieutenant Commander Data stated "By order of Starfleet, I hereby take command of this vessel." (TNG: "Redemption II")
Picard stated "the claim 'I was only following orders' has been used to justify too many tragedies in our history." (TNG: "Redemption II")
Picard was ordered to relinquish command of the Enterprise to Captain Edward Jellico. (TNG: "Chain Of Command, Part I")
Command phrases[]
Many captains adopted a particular way of giving the order to take a starship out. Choosing one's catchphrase was something of an informal tradition among those who had been given the opportunity to take command. (SNW: "The Broken Circle"; PIC: "The Last Generation")