Religious symbolism in the United States military includes the use of religious symbols for military chaplain insignia, uniforms, emblems, flags, and chapels; symbolic gestures, actions, and words used in military rituals and ceremonies; and religious symbols or designations used in areas such as headstones and markers in national cemeteries, and military ID tags ("dog tags").
Symbolism sometimes includes specific images included or excluded because of religious reasons, choices involving colors with religious significance, and "religious accommodation" policies regarding the wear of "religious apparel" and "grooming" (such as "unshorn" hair and beards worn for religious reasons) with military uniforms. Additionally, military chaplains themselves are sometimes regarded as "symbols of faith" for military personnel who face challenges to their faith and values.wwwpresidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on March 24, 2026 that chaplains in all military branches would cease wearing insignia of grade and only wear their religious insignia.
Chaplain insignia by military service
Army On July 29, 1775, the Continental Congress established the military chaplaincy, but chaplains did not wear insignia until 1880.www.alternatewards.com . Retrieved June 7, 2011. However, in 1835 Army Regulations prescribed black as the branch color for chaplains, directing that a chaplain wear a black coat. By 1861, US Army Regulations included the details that the chaplains should wear a single breast officer's frock coat made of black wool, with black cloth covering the buttons, and no shoulder boards.www.quartermastershop.com . Retrieved May 29, 2011. In 1864, the Army Uniform Board "enhanced" the frock coat by adding black "herringbone braid" in across the chest at the buttons and buttonholes, with buttons still covered in black. This coat was used by army chaplains until 1880, when shoulder boards were authorized for chaplains for the first time, and the first official insignia was introduced.
Although the Latin cross has long been the symbol for the majority of United States military chaplains, this first official chaplain insignia was the "shepherd's crook" (staff).www.chaplain.us. Retrieved May 15, 2011. Authorized in General Order Number 10, and remaining in force for the period February 13, 1880 – May 5, 1888, it was described as "embroidered frosted silver bullion in center of black velvet shoulder straps, and was considered appropriate for both the frock coat or undress uniform." The plain "Latin cross" (silver on dark-blue shoulder straps) became the authorized chaplain insignia in 1898, replacing the shepherd's crook. Today, despite the fact that the shepherd's crook is no longer used as an insignia for individual chaplains, it is included in the design of the Chaplain Corps regimental insignia in honor of its place in Army Chaplain Corps history.www.armystudyguide.com. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
Jewish chaplains were first authorized to serve during the Civil War, but it was during World War I that the issue of insignia reached the army, when Congressman Isaac Siegel from New York petitioned the army that rabbis serving in uniform be permitted to wear "some other insignia in place of the cross."Slomovitz, Albert Isaac, The Fighting Rabbis: Jewish Military Chaplains and American History, 1999, New York University Press, pp. 59–61.
Within two weeks of receiving this request, the army issued a directive stating that "Objections having been made to Jewish Chaplains wearing the prescribed insignia, you are authorized by the Secretary of War to omit the prescribed insignia" (the cross)."Army correspondence Concerning Jewish Insignia, NA-CCC-RG247, cited in Slomovitz, op. cit.However, after battlefront reports indicated that difficulties arose from the fact that Jewish chaplains wore no insignia, the army began to look into various proposals, including a continuation of the practice of having Jewish chaplains wear no insignia, to the creation of a separate insignia for them, to a return to the shepherd's crook as a shared symbol for all chaplains. General Henry Jerver, acting assistant chief of staff for the army favored the third alternative, and within weeks of his decision this became the official policy for the Army. However, many Christian chaplains opposed this change of policy, and in August 1918 General Pershing cabled the War Department to inform it of this opposition. Not all Christian chaplains opposed the idea of a universal symbol, and some went on record agreeing with the statement of one chaplain that "I am a chaplain of the Christian faith, but I welcome the change. The shepherd's crook is symbolic of the chaplain's work.""Army and Navy Journal," July 20, 1918, as cited in Slomovitz, op. cit. Returning to a consideration of the three options of no insignia for Jewish chaplains, a shared insignia, or a separate insignia, the army opted for a separate Jewish chaplain insignia that included an image of the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, using Roman numerals to indicate the commandments, with a small six-pointed Jewish star on top of the tablets. Other symbols considered included a six-pointed star (hexagram), which was rejected by the army because it could too easily be confused with the 5-pointed star worn by generals; a seven-branched candelabra (Menorah); and two "Lions of Judah" supporting the six-pointed star.
This symbol would remain the insignia for Jewish chaplains until 1981, when the navy changed its insignia to include the first ten letters of the Hebrew alphabet—to replace the Roman numerals—and both the army and the air force followed suit.Slomovitz, op. cit., p. 123. While the official change to Hebrew letters became official November 9, 1981USMilitary.about.com . Retrieved May 15, 2011. Jewish chaplains were not required to make the uniform change until January 1, 1983.Emerson, William K.,"Encyclopedia of United States Army Insignia and Uniforms, 1996, University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 268, internet. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
Insignia decisions for chaplains representing faith groups other than Christianity and Judaism have not been made unilaterally by the army, but instead have been joint decisions for all military chaplains. Navy
The Continental Navy, predecessor of the United States Navy, was approved by the United States Congress on October 13, 1775, with navy regulations (adopted November 28, 1775) that included as its second article: "The Commanders of the ships of the thirteen United Colonies are to take care that divine service be performed twice a day on board, and a sermon preached on Sundays, unless bad weather or other extraordinary accidents prevent." But, while the need for navy chaplains was recognized from the beginning, attitudes and policies toward navy uniforms or insignia for its chaplains went through many changes before final decisions were made.Perrenot, Preston B.United States Navy Grade Insignia Since 1852, pg 92, copyright 2009 by Preston Perrinot. Retrieved May 15, 2011. (Chaplain Corps insignia section: pages 91-102.) 1847 navy regulations did authorize chaplains to wear a blue uniform with black collar and cuffs with no insignia, and later, in 1864, chaplains were provided the same uniform as other staff officers, with the use of a silver cross as a corps device.
However, regulations for navy chaplain uniforms and insignias changed a number of times over the following years: 1869–1876, when chaplains were considered as officers without rank, they wore the cross without any additional "sleeve lace"; in 1876, uniforms were no longer authorized for chaplains, who were to wear either civilian clothing or the vestments appropriate to their faith group; in 1883, the uniform became an option for chaplains, with the cross; and then in 1894, the epaulets and passants were removed so that chaplain uniforms had no insignia at all, neither any that indicated they were officers nor even the cross signifying that they were chaplains.
It was not until 1905 that the navy uniform code included a permanent regulation for chaplains: along with ranks equivalent to line officers, they were to wear naval officer's uniforms with the sleeve braid in "lustrous black" (not gold, like that of other officers), and to wear both the officer rank insignia and a gold cross. In 1918, naval staff corps rules were changed, and the distinctive black braid of chaplains was replaced by the same gold braid worn by other officers, along with the Latin cross.
The navy policy on insignia for Jewish chaplains was not resolved as quickly as it was in the army. When Rabbi David Goldberg entered the navy October 30, 1917,Goldberg, Adam M., "Jewish Culture and the American Military" , Naval Postgraduate School Thesis, September 2006, pg. 19. Retrieved May 18, 2011. receiving orders after basic training to report to the , he asked a senior chaplain about the fact that he was told to wear the Latin cross, receiving the response that "the men understood that he wore the insignia of the corps and not his faith group." Goldberg wore the cross throughout the time he served on the ship, but after reporting to his next assignment ashore the combination of his shipboard experience and the number of letters he received from rabbinic colleagues objecting to his wearing a cross finally led to his petitioning the navy in 1918 to allow him to wear the Star of David instead.
When Goldberg's request to wear the six-pointed star was rejected—based on the same fears the army had that a six-pointed star would be too similar to the five-pointed star worn by flag officers—he recommended the shepherd's crook as a universal symbol, a recommendation that met with opposition from many Christian chaplains. However, the Navy did authorize Goldberg to wear that symbol himself, in place of the cross. Goldberg wore this insignia until the end of World War II, when navy policy eventually changed to allow navy Jewish chaplains to wear the tablets and the star, the same insignia worn by Jewish chaplains in the army. This change took place in 1941, after only two Jewish chaplains (Goldberg and Harold Strauss) had worn the Shepherd's Crook insignia.Southwest Jewish Press, October 11, 1974.
Although the shepherd's crook has not been used as a chaplain insignia since that time, the term used for the active duty chaplain with the earliest appointment is the "Gray Shepherd."
As in the case of the army, decisions about chaplain faith group insignia after those made regarding Jewish chaplains (the original decision and the later decision to change Roman numerals to Hebrew letters) have not been made unilaterally by the navy, but instead have been joint decisions for all military chaplains.
In 2023, the Secretary of the Navy issued eligibility requirements and qualifications for the Surface Chaplain Officer warfare pin.
Marine Corps and Coast Guard
Navy chaplains also serve Marine Corps,OPNAVINST 1730.1D . Retrieved May 15, 2011. Coast Guard,www.uscg.mil. Retrieved May 15, 2011. and Merchant Marine.www.dvidshub.net. Retrieved May 25, 2011. Although they have the option of wearing marine corps or coast guard uniforms when assigned to their respective units, the chaplain corps insignia remain that of the navy.www.usnst.org . Retrieved May 12, 2011.www.uscg.mil. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
In 2013, the Secretary of the Navy issued eligibility requirements and qualifications that U.S. Navy chaplains serving with Marine Corps must earn the Fleet Marine Force Qualified Officer designation. Chaplains must spend at least a year with a USMC unit, pass the Corps’ physical fitness exams, complete a six-mile march, and successfully complete all the Personnel Qualification Standards not involving their use of firearms or weapons.
Merchant marine