U.S. Military insignia order?

[Phil Salvati]

Hey folks!

I have to make a few mock ups for awards, plaques and shirts.

The design needs to incorporate the 5 insignias of the military branches with the fallen soldier memorial.

My question is.... Is there a certain order the insignias must follow?


Any ideas?

Thanks...

[Mike Null]

To my knowledge there is no order.

You might put them in order of age but I've never heard or seen any particular order.

[Phil Salvati]

Thanks Mike.... Date of inception is a good idea.

I have been checking as many Military sites as I can.... Nothing etched in stone yet! Pardon the Pun!

[Dave Garcia]

Hey folks!

I have to make a few mock ups for awards, plaques and shirts.

The design needs to incorporate the 5 insignias of the military branches with the fallen soldier memorial.

My question is.... Is there a certain order the insignias must follow?


Any ideas?

Thanks...

Phil,

You also might want to check with the various military protocal and awards manuals. Not sure where you can get your hands on a hard copy but you should be able to find them on line somewhere.

These are the manuals that most military protocal officers use when setting up formal functions such as presidential inaugurations, formal dinners etc, anywhere where there are more than just a couple of high ranking military folks in attendance. Senior officers are very "into" that sort of thing.

Hope this helps.

Dave Garcia
The Wood Block, Ltd
USN Retired

[Mike Null]

Actually a few years ago I wanted to make a t-shirt using all 5 logos so I contacted each service and showed them what I wanted to do and all were good with it. I did not have them in any particular order.

All gave me a written or email approval though I don't think it's really necessary.

[Don Abele]

Phil, yes, there is a specific order and it is always followed for military service flags and multi-service ceremonies.

Military protocol puts them in the order in which they were established:

Army: 14 June 1775

Marine Corps: 10 Novemeber 1775

Navy: 13 October 1775 established the Continental Navy. The "US" Navy wasn't created until 1789 though. However, we use 1775 as our year of birth. We still follow the Marines though (and this old grunt corpsman ain't arguing with that!).

Air Force: 18 September 1947

Coast Guard: 7 August 1789 the US Lighthouse service was established. On 28 January 1915, they officially became the Coast Guard. Even with that, they still come after the Air Force which is much younger (I've never been able to get an exact reason, lots of speculation though).

Be well,

Doc

[Mark Fitzmorris]

Actually the Coast Guard 'roots' were established with the Revenue Cutter Service which was established on Aug 4 1790. Which makes the Coast Guard the oldest continuous Naval Service in the U.S. There was no other U.S. 'Navy' from 1790-1798.

Retired U.S. CG Chief sends.

Marklf

[Dave Garcia]

Actually the Coast Guard 'roots' were established with the Revenue Cutter Service which was established on Aug 4 1790. Which makes the Coast Guard the oldest continuous Naval Service in the U.S. There was no other U.S. 'Navy' from 1790-1798.

Retired U.S. CG Chief sends.

Marklf

"CHIEF" Mark,

Someone sure knows their history. So to continue on in this regard, does anyone out there know which is the ONLY uniformed service authorized under the US Constitution by name? The US Navy is the only one! Even though the US Marines etc, were "established" before the US Navy and are now part of the Navy Department (to my Marine buddies, yes, the Mens Department of the Navy of course). the US Navy is still the only service established by name in the Constitution.

Comments?

Dave Garcia
The Wood Block, Ltd
Vietnam '69 - '75
USN Retired

[Don Abele]

Actually the Coast Guard 'roots' were established with the Revenue Cutter Service which was established on Aug 4 1790. Which makes the Coast Guard the oldest continuous Naval Service in the U.S. There was no other U.S. 'Navy' from 1790-1798.

Retired U.S. CG Chief sends.

Marklf

All right Chief, come on...if your gonna try and put the Coast Guard ahead of the Navy, let's all make sure the facts are straight.

Before I straighten a few "errors" out, let me qualify my answer: I spent four years on the USS CONSTITUTION in Boston. Twice a year for the entire time I was there, the newly selected Coast Guard CPO's would have to visit me for charge book entries. So I learned a lot about our fellow mariner service. You can also figure out why I happen to know a lot of the Navy's history as well.

Now, back to the facts (retyped from the notes I kept while I was up there):

<<< WARNING...History lesson to follow...>>>

In 1789 the Light House Service was created. A year later the Revenue Service was create to enforce customs laws (the name Revenue Cutter Service wasn't used until 1863!). There were other additions along the way (Steamboat Inspection Services and Life-Saving Service). Until FINALLY, in 1915 they combined them into the Coast Guard. Depending on who told the story to me, they all used one or another of those services to pick as the "roots" of the USCG. In my original post, you'll notice I listed both 1789 and 1915 giving them the same benefit of doubt as the Navy's beginnings (1775 vs 1789).

A few other notes: The USCG originally belonged to the US Treasury, then the US Department of Transportation, and finally in 2003 they became a part of the Department of Homeland Security. They had a hard time finding a home .

Finally, it really needs to be noted that from 1917-1919 and 1941-1946 the UCSG actually belonged to the US Navy. Apparantly after two trys with them, we decided we really didn't want them, and never invited them back in . The same in NOT true for the Marines, whom we love so dearly we have never let go of them.

Now, as for the US Navy...

The Continental Navy was established by the Continental Congress on 13 October 1775 (our official birthday). After the war with Great Britian, it was disestablished. However, in 1789, the Constitution of the United States empowered Congress "to provide and maintain a Navy." Five years later, in 1794, President Washington signed the Naval Aramament Act authorizing the building of six frigates to help with pirarcy off the north african coast.. The USS UNITED STATES, USS CONSTELLATION, and the USS CONSTITUTION were all commissioned in 1797 (the remaining three frigates, USS CHESAPEAKE, USS CONGRESS, and USS PRESIDENT were launched in 1799, 1799, and 1800 respectively). Up until this time the Navy fell under the War Department. On 30 April 1798, the Department of the Navy was established.

<<<End of history lesson>>>

Mark, please take the jibes in jest...I love the USCG and have a true respect for what they do. But I'm still gonna jab ya when I get a chance! As a matter of fact, my current Expeditionary Security Squadron will be deploying back to the middle east again with a USCG Port Security Unit early next year. Of course, they do the security inside the break walls where the seas are calm while we patrol out to 30 nautical miles .

Be well,

Doc

[Mark Fitzmorris]

Don,

Interesting history of the CG too bad you got it so wrong!! If you doubt the date that I gave you that the CG traces its 'roots' to I suggest you look at the CG Seal you will clearly see that it states 1790 not 1789! Our 'official Birthday' is Aug 4 1790. As to CG getting shifted between departments you are correct. I in fact worked under the Department of Transportation and the Department of Homeland Security. Yes during times of declared war the CG can and has been shifted to the Department of the Navy but that is because, as we all know, the Coast Guard is the core nucleus that the Navy wraps itself around during periods of crisis!
I am very familiar with the "Expeditionary Security Squadrons" cause I served with them at the start of the war. I was with a PSU and we took the squids under our wing and tried to teach them(albeit unsuccessfully) not to get seasick! Oh and you may want to check and see just who it is that is patrolling out beyond the break walls you may just be a tat bit surprised at who you find. Don't worry about me taking offense in addition to playing in the sandbox with you squids I also did about 5 years assigned to a team that deployed on the Navy ships performing law enforcement. So I have had my chops busted by the best of them! Funny thing is on every single deployment I did with the Navy I always had some of you ask me how to join the CG but NONE of the Coasties ever asked how to join the Navy! But hey at least you guys have the Village People singing about you.

But seriously thank you for your service!

Mark

[Mark Fitzmorris]

Don,

By the way if you went on the last deployment with your unit you served with the PSU that I went over with. Their Command Master Chief is my best friend.

Thank you again for your service

Mark

[Steven Wallace]

Just remember you have to be over 6 foot tall to join the coasties.... Have to be able to wade to shore if your boat flounders. As a US Navy vet, it is still nice to see that there is still good natured jabbing between the 2 services. We might joke amongst ourselves but I doubt anyone would want to try and force a wedge between any of the 5 branches. For those of you that have not participated in the US Armed Forces just sit back and enjoy the repartee.

[Mark Fitzmorris]

Steve,

That 6 foot rule does not apply to those of us that could walk on water!

Mark

[Don Abele]

First, let me say to Phil...sorry about dragging your original post so far off topic.

Don, Interesting history of the CG too bad you got it so wrong!! If you doubt the date that I gave you that the CG traces its 'roots' to I suggest you look at the CG Seal you will clearly see that it states 1790 not 1789! Our 'official Birthday' is Aug 4 1790...

OK...so you're official birthday is just as wrong as the Navy's. I'll concede to that! In 1790 you were the Revenue Service, not the CG just like in 1775 we were the Continental Navy, not the US Navy.

...the Coast Guard is the core nucleus that the Navy wraps itself around during periods of crisis...

You almost had to buy me a new monitor! I nearly spit my coffee out when I read that. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we haven't needed your "core" during any crisis in more than 60 years. I think your nucleus is a few protons short to meet our modern standards!


[

...Funny thing is on every single deployment I did with the Navy I always had some of you ask me how to join the CG but NONE of the Coasties ever asked how to join the Navy...

Those were our below standard Sailors, who oddly enough, far exceeded the CG standards so would make perfect "Guardians". Coasties coming to the real Navy...would not happen, then they'd have to work for a living!

...But hey at least you guys have the Village People singing about you...

Don't be hatin'...all the other services are jealous of this accomplishment!


Now with all that said, as Steven said, I have the utmost respect for all our services. Each of us has our core competency which we excel at, but in modern times we have found that we are much stronger as a united team because we are much stronger as a whole than the sum of our parts. Without the USCG PSU team that will deploy with us next year, we would be severely short handed.

Be well,

Doc

[Phil Salvati]

Hey Thanks guys!

The info helped... And I have enjoyed the banter!

The insignias are going around the Fallen Soldier Memorial (which I have spent several hours drawing for Screen Print) in a star shape.

If it goes over well with the club...it will be cleaned up and used for memorial plaques.

thanks again!

Phil