The Eagle, Globe, and Anchor (commonly referred to as an EGA) is the official emblem and insignia of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

. The current emblem traces its roots in the designs and ornaments of the early

Continental Marines The Continental Marines were the Amphibious warfare, amphibious infantry of the Thirteen Colonies, American Colonies (and later the United States) during the American Revolutionary War. The Corps was formed by the Continental Congress on Novem ...

as well as the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

. The present emblem, adopted in 1955, differs from the emblem of 1868 only by a change in the eagle. Before that time many devices, ornaments, ribbons, and distinguishing marks followed one another as official badges of the corps.

History

In 1776, the device consisted of a fouled

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

(tangled in its rope) of

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

or pewter. Changes were made in 1798, 1821, and 1824. In 1834, it was prescribed that a

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

eagle be worn on the cover, the eagle to measure from wingtip to wingtip. An eagle clutching a fouled anchor with thirteen six-pointed

stars A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...

above was used on uniform buttons starting in 1804. This same insignia is used today on the buttons of Marine dress and service uniforms, with the six-pointed stars changed to five-pointed stars. During the early years numerous distinguishing marks were prescribed, including "black cockades", "scarlet plumes", and "yellow bands and tassels". In 1859, the first version of the present color scheme for the officer's dress uniform insignia appeared on an elaborate device of solid white metal and yellow metal. The design included a United States shield, half wreath, a bugle, and the letter "M." In 1868, the USMC's

commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

, Brigadier General Jacob Zeilin, appointed a board "to decide and report upon the various devices of cap ornaments of the Marine Corps." On November 13, 1868, the board recommended the modern insignia. It was approved by the commandant four days later, and by the

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

on November 19, 1868.

Design and symbolism

The emblem recommended by the 1868 board consisted of a ''globe'' (showing the continents of the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

) intersected by a ''fouled anchor'', and surmounted by a ''spread eagle''. On the emblem itself, there is a ribbon, clasped in the eagle's beak, bearing the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

motto "''

Semper Fidelis ''Semper fidelis'' () is a Latin phrase that means "always faithful" or "always loyal" (Fidelis or Fidelity). It is the motto of the United States Marine Corps, usually shortened to Semper Fi. It is also in use as a motto for towns, families, ...

''" (). The uniform insignias omit the motto ribbon. The general design of the emblem was probably derived from the Royal Marines' "Globe and Laurel," which shows the eastern hemisphere. The globe on the U.S. Marine emblem signifies the Corps' readiness to service in any part of the world. The eagle represents the United States. The anchor, which dates back to the founding of the corps in 1775, acknowledges the naval tradition of the Marines and their continual service within the Department of the Navy. There are some differences between the uniform insignia for enlisted marines and that of officers: The enlisted Marines' dress blue uniform insignia is die-struck from a single sheet of brass and anodized a gold color. The service uniform insignia is coated a flat black color. The officers' insignia is assembled from four parts: a die-struck silver colored globe with eagle, and gold colored anchor with silver colored fouling rope, and gold colored continents.

Current emblem and seal

In 1954, the USMC Commandant, General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., requested the design of an official seal for the corps. The new seal included the traditional Eagle, Globe, and Anchor emblem in gold, with the Globe and anchor rope in silver. The eagle is depicted with wings displayed, standing upon the western hemisphere of the terrestrial globe, and holding in his beak a white ribbon bearing the Marine Corps motto "''Semper Fidelis''" (Always Faithful) with the hemisphere superimposed on a fouled anchor. An American

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

replaced the crested eagle depicted on the 1868 emblem. The emblem is displayed on a scarlet background encircled with a blue band bearing the phrases "Department of the Navy" above and "United States Marine Corps" below in white letters, the whole edged in a gold rope

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Eisenhower approved the design on June 22, 1954. The emblem as shown on the seal was adopted in 1955 as the official Marine Corps emblem.

Similar symbols

The emblem of the U.S. Marine Corps became an inspiration of the marine corps and naval infantry insignia of other nations, such as Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea. The

Republic of Korea Marine Corps The Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC; ), also known as the ROK Marine Corps, ROK Marines or South Korean marines, is the naval infantry of South Korea. The ROKMC is a branch of the Republic of Korea Navy responsible for amphibious operat ...

(ROKMC), the

Royal Thai Marine Corps The Royal Thai Marine Corps or RTMC ( are the marines of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN). The Royal Thai Marine Corps was founded in 1932, when the first battalion was formed with the assistance of the United States Marine Corps (USMC). It was expanded ...

(RTMC), and the

Republic of China Marine Corps , image = File:Republic of China Marine Corp (ROCMC) Logo.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Emblem of the Republic of China Marine Corps with the map of ROC claimed lands of m ...

(ROCMC) use an insignia that bears a resemblance to the emblem of the USMC. The emblem of the South Korean marines consists of a golden star superimposed into the fouled anchor. The eagle is similar to that of the USMC's. The insignia of the Thai marines is similar to that of the USMC, with the exception of a golden

Garuda Garuda (; ; Vedic Sanskrit: , ) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the D ...

above the globe, and a silhouette map of Thailand. The emblem of the Republic of China Marine Corps is similar to that of the USMC, with the exception of a

Blue Sky with a White Sun The Blue Sky with a White Sun ( zh , t = 青天白日 , p = Qīngtiān Báirì ) is the national emblem of the Taiwan, Republic of China, both during its history in Republic of China (1912–1949), mainland China and on History of Taiwan (1945–p ...

above the globe, and a silhouette map of the Republic of China's claimed territories, including

Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

and

Outer Mongolia Outer Mongolia was the name of a territory in the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China from 1691 to 1911. It corresponds to the modern-day independent state of Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva. The historical region gained ''de facto'' ...

. The

Republic of Vietnam Marine Division The Republic of Vietnam Marine Division (RVNMD, or '; ) was part of the armed forces of South Vietnam. It was established by Ngo Dinh Diem in 1954 when he was Prime Minister of the State of Vietnam, which became the Republic of Vietnam in 1955. ...

, a.k.a. the South Vietnamese marine corps (VNMC), also used an emblem similar to that of the USMC, with the exception of a map of Vietnam and a red star superimposed onto the globe. File:Korps Marinir.svg, Emblem of the Indonesian Marine Corps File:Seal of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps.svg, Seal of the

File:Coat of arms of the Republic of China Marine Corps.svg, Emblem of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Marine Corps File:Emblem of the Royal Thai Marines.svg, Seal of the

File:Republic of Vietnam Marine Division SSI.png, Patch of the

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eagle, Globe, And Anchor United States Marine Corps lore and symbols Seals of organizations Heraldry of the United States military Military symbols Heraldic charges Eagles in art Maps in art