A Brief History of the Marine Corps Flag
It is difficult to determine what flags were carried by early marines, but evidence suggests that the Grand Union flag was carried ashore on New Providence Island by the battalion led by Captain Samuel Nicholas, 3 March 1776. It is quite possible that the Rattlesnake flag was also carried on this expedition.
The Marine flags standard from the 1830s and 1840s featured a white field with gold fringe and a detailed anchor and eagle design in the middle. When this flag was first used, it said “To the Shores of Tripoli” at the top. A few years later, “From Tripoli to the Halls of Montezumas” was added to the narrative.
It is said that Marines on the field during the Mexican and Civil Wars flew a flag that resembled the American flag, consisting of red and white stripes with a union symbol. The union, on the other hand, had an eagle sitting atop the American flag’s shield and a half-wreath below it, both surrounded by 29 stars. On the center red stripe of the flag, Marines have worn the embroidered yellow word “U.S.” since 1876, the year the Marine Corps was founded.
Marines flew a more distinctive standard during the landing at Vera Cruz in 1914. The Marine Corps symbol was encircled by a laurel wreath in the center of a blue background. The words “U.S. Marine Corps” and the motto “Semper Fidelis” were displayed on scarlet ribbons above and below the symbol, respectively.
To comply with orders given on 2 April 1921, all national colors were to be made with yellow fringe and “US Marine Corps” embroidered on the red stripe removed from them. On March 14, 1922, the government issued an order to stop using any national colors with yellow fringe or words on the flag. Army soldiers in the years following World War I began wearing silver bands with inscriptions listing their various awards and victories. In 1961, this practice was abolished on January 23rd.
The official colors of the United States Marine Corps are gold and scarlet, as stipulated by Marine Corps Order №4 on 18 April 1925. It wasn’t until January 18, 1939, that the official Marine Corps standard was updated to incorporate these new colors.
The design was essentially the same as today’s Marine Corps standard.
It was used for a brief while following World War I, but the practice was stopped after the discovery that there were too many accolades and the restricted space on a unit’s colors made the system infeasible. In 1936, a Marine Corps Board suggested that the Army technique of attaching streamers to the staff of the organizational colors should be implemented. Order №157 of the Marine Corps, dated November 3, 1939, approved the use of such a system and it is active today.
