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Crossing the line is the noting of the crossing of certain imaginary lines, such as the equator or the arctic circle, by holding traditional ceremonies and initiating those who are crossing the lines for the first time. Each initiation has its own unique aspects. Some line crossing ceremonies are:

Order of the Blue Nose: For sailors who have crossed the Arctic Circle.

Order of the Red Nose: For sailors who have crossed the Antarctic Circle.

Order of the Golden Dragon: For sailors who have crossed the International Date Line.

Order of the Ditch: For sailors who have passed through the Panama Canal.

Order of the Rock: For sailors who have transited the Strait of Gibraltar.

Safari to Suez: For sailors who have passed through the Suez Canal.

Golden Shellback: For sailors who have crossed the point where the Equator crosses the International Date Line.

Emerald Shellback: For sailors who cross at 0 degrees off the coast of West Africa where the Equator crosses the Prime Meridian.

Realm of the Czars: For sailors who have crossed into the Black Sea.

Order of the Shellback: The best-known line-crossing ceremony is the ‘Order of the Shellback’ that commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the Equator. Originally, the tradition was created by seasoned sailors as a test of new shipmates to ensure they were capable of handling long, arduous times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the equator are called (Trusty) Shellbacks, or Sons of Neptune, while those who have not crossed are called (Slimy) Pollywogs, or Wogs.

The ceremony is a ritual of reversal in which the older,experienced enlisted crew essentially takes over the ship from the officers. The controlled "chaos" of the ‘Pollywog Revolt’ takes control and then re-order is established in the initiation rites as Shellbacks convert the Wogs through physical tests. Similar to boot camps, the initiation coverts inexperienced Wogs into experienced Shellbacks. Minor physical assaults used to be the norm but have been prohibited in recent years.

Sometime. th eve of the equatorial crossing is called ‘Wog Day’ where Wogs are allowed to capture and interrogate Shellbacks, by tying them up, cracking eggs or pouring aftershave lotion on their heads, etc. The Wogs are aware that it will be much harder on them during the initiation if they do anything like this.

After the ship crosses the line, the 'Jolly Roger' flag is hoisted, and Pollywogs receive subpoenas to appear before the Royal family, which consists of King Neptune and his wife Highness Amphitrite, and the Royal Baby. Also in attendance are Davy Jones, the Royal Barber who uses a hand clipper to cut Wog hair, and other Shellbacks dressed as characters, such as pirates. There may be a beauty contest where each department of the ship is required to introduce one male contestant in swimsuit drag.

Various charges are levied against the Pollywogs. Some Wogs may be "interrogated" by King Neptune and his entourage who use "truth serum" (hot sauce and various other nasty but eatable things) to encourage telling the truth. During the ceremony, Wogs undergo a number of increasingly embarrassing ordeals for the entertainment of the Shellbacks, such as wearing clothing inside out and backwards, crawling on hands and knees on nonskid-coated decks, being swatted with a short length of wet fire hose called a ‘shalaylee’, being locked in stocks and pillories and pelted with mushy fruit, being locked in a water coffin of salt-water and bright green sea dye (fluorescent sodium salt), crawling through chutes “The Tube” or large tubs (The Royal Bath) of rotting garbage, and kissing the Royal Baby's (the fattest Shellback) belly that has been coated with mustard or other nasty stuff.

Once the ceremony is complete, Wogs are hosed down and each receives a certificate declaring his new status as a Shellback. This certificate is cherished as proof of initiation so it does not need to be endured again. Submariners often become "Top Secret Shellbacks" having crossed the equator at a classified degree of longitude.

In the 19th century and earlier, the line-crossing ceremony was quite a brutal event, often involving beating pollywogs with boards and wet ropes and sometimes throwing them over the side of the ship and dragging them in the surf from the stern. Sailors were reported to have been killed while participating in these old line-crossing ceremonies.

As late as World War II, the line-crossing ceremony was still rather rough and involved activities such as the "Devil's Tongue," which was an electrified piece of metal poked into the sides of those deemed pollywogs. Beatings were often still common, usually with sections of dry rather salt-hardened fire hoses or canvas tubes filled with wet rice. World War II Navy deck logs speak of sailors visiting sickbay after crossing the line.

Beginning in the 1980s, all forms of hazing began being strictly controlled. Today’s line-crossing ceremonies are relatively tame; rather than a dreaded rite of initiation, they have become a popular tradition. In the PBS documentary Carrier filmed in 2005 (Episode 7, "Rites of Passage"), a crossing-the-line ceremony on the USS Nimitz was extensively documented. The ceremony was carefully orchestrated by the ship's officers, with some enthusiastic sailors chafing at the degree to which harassment was disallowed.