U_n(q) acting on flags and supercharacters

Let $U=U_n(q)$ be the group of lower unitriangular $n \times n$-matrices with entries in the field $\mathbb F_q$ with $q$ elements for some prime power $q$ and $n \in \mathbb N$. We investigate the restriction to $U$ of the permutation action of $GL_n(q)$ on flags in the natural $GL_n(q)$-module $\mathbb F_q^n$. Applying our results to the special case of flags of length two we obtain a complete decomposition of the permutation representation of $GL_n(q)$ on the cosets of maximal parabolic subgroups into irreducible $\mathbb C U$-modules.