Guard Bureau Releases New ARNG, ANG Seals

The National Guard Bureau has unveiled revised seals for the Army National Guard and a first one for the Air National Guard, according to an Aug. 19 release.

“The seals symbolize a shared organizational identity and should serve as reminders to our Soldiers and Airmen that they belong to a world-class military organization — one that fights and wins our nation’s wars, responds to emergencies on the home front and builds global partnerships,” said Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the NGB chief.

To honor the bureau’s history, the NGB seal reverted its background color from flag blue to its original 1921 dark blue.

“General Hokanson launched a parallel effort to update and redefine the Army Guard’s seal and establish the first Air National Guard seal to create a singular representation of the National Guards of the States, Territories, and District of Columbia,” said Richard Clark, Director of the NGB History Office.

“Something was needed,” Clark said, “that spoke to both the shared relationship of the Army and Air National Guards and recognized their separate service. Thus, both designs include the minuteman, but both designs are also distinct.”

While the seals will be found in official military spaces as they always have, an original function of heraldry was to help identify Soldiers and their units on the battlefield, he added. “The updated and new seals do not affect uniforms, and Airmen will continue to wear the shield patch of the Air National Guard of the United States.”

NGB is working on a directive and a plan to replace the old versions of Army Guard seal and the Air National Guard of the United States emblem with the updated seals in public spaces, letterhead and briefing templates.