Coast Guard History
Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Coast Guard adopt the “slash” for its cutters, boats, and aircraft?
The design consists of a wide red bar forward of a narrow blue bar both canted at 64 degrees above the horizontal with the Coast Guard emblem superimposed. It was originally recommended in 1964 by the industrial design firm of Raymond Loewy/William Snaith, Incorporated and was adopted service-wide on 6 April 1967.
The color red used in the slash is Pantone 179.
The color blue used in the slash is Pantone 307.
Last Modified 7/22/2008