device. The result was the color bar concept, known
as the diagonal racing stripe logo.
This new design was tested on cutters and facilities at
the Coast Guards’ Seventh District in Florida. Cutters,
buoy tenders, vehicles and buildings at Base Miami
all tested the new “racing stripe” logo. Helicopters
and fixed-wing aircrafts were also included in the
test at North Carolina’s Air Station Elizabeth City.
With successful tests and a few modifications to the
logo and type-font, on 6 April 1967, Commandant
Edwin Roland issued Instruction 5030.5 which
ordered service-wide implementation of the Visual
Identification System. The racing stripe logo became
official and was added to all Coast Guard vehicles,
buildings, stationary, signage, stations, cutters, boats
and aircraft.
OR express
The racing stripe concept continues to be adopted in
various colors by nations throughout the world. The
red racing stripe logo appears on all Coast Guard
assets. You can see the stripe in different color
configurations on white, black, silver, gray or red
hulls of boats, ships, and aircraft. The stripe is also
on buildings, signage, and printed materials. Today,
the racing stripe emblem is instantly identified as
belonging to the United States Coast Guard. ii
1 Ocean
Station refers to cutters stationed at sea.
USCG Aux
i
William H. Thiesen, PhD, “The History of the “Racing Stripe”
Emblem and Brand Part I: The United States Coast Guard,” Sea
History 139, https://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/stripehistory.
pdf, (Summer 2012).
ii Christian
Ostersehlte, PhD, “The History of the “Racing Stripe”
Emblem and Brand Identity for World Sea Services and Coast
Guards Part II: The Rest of the World,” Sea History 139, https://
www.uscg.mil/history/articles/stripehistory.pdf, (Summer 2012).
USCG Aux
References and further readings: Beard, Tom. The Coast Guard-
Foundation for Coast Guard History. Foundation for Coast Guard
History Universe, 2010. Ostrom, Thomas P. USCG 1790 to the
Present. Red Anvil Press, 2006. Thiesen, William H. PhD. “The History
of the “Racing Stripe” Emblem and Brand Part 1: The United States
Coast Guard” Sea History 139, Summer 2012
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