FAA’s Seal 

Origins of U.S. Heraldic Symbols 

Heraldic and other military symbols have been used by the military forces as well as other 

organizational elements of the government since the beginning of the Revolutionary War. 

However, until 1919, there was no coordinated, overall military symbolism program. In that 

year, within the War Department General Staff, an office was delegated the responsibility for the 

coordination and approval of coats of arms and insignia of certain Army organizations. In 1924, 

formal staff responsibility for specific military designs was delegated to The Quartermaster 

General. As the needs for symbolism by the military services and the national government 

expanded, the scope of the services furnished by The Quartermaster General’s Office evolved 

into a sizable heraldic program. The acceleration of activities brought about by World War II, the 

expansion of the Army, and subsequent increase of interest in symbolism, contributed to the 

growth of the program. 

After World War II, the need for coats of arms, decorations, official seals, and organizational 

emblems began to expand from the military to other Government sectors. In 1949, the Munitions 

Board, acting for the Army, Navy and Air Force, directed the Army to provide heraldic services 

to all military departments. To aid nonmilitary federal organizations interested in heraldic 

services, President Eisenhower signed Public Law 85-263 on September 2, 1957, which allowed 

the Secretary of the Army to provide these services to all branches of the Federal Government. 

Heraldic services included design and development of departmental seals and flags. 

Creation of FAA’s Seal 

The Federal Aviation Act of 1958, which established the Federal 

Aviation Agency, also directed the new agency adopt an official seal 

(section 301(c)). In early 1959, FAA Assistant Administrator for 

Management Services, Arvin Basnight, sent a request to the Office 

of the Adjutant General in the U.S. Army’s Office of Quartermaster 

General for help designing FAA’s seal. The Army provided several 

designs for FAA’s approval, and after several modifications, the 

agency accepted a design on July 21, 1959. The design included the 

world in a circle, which denoted the immense space covered in flight; a compass rose with a fleur 

de lis symbol on top, which denoted the direction of flight; and a wing on the compass, which 

represented speed in flight. 

With the design approved, FAA sent it to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts for approval. The 

Commission, established in 1910 by Act of Congress, is charged with giving expert advice to the 

President, Congress, and the heads of departments and agencies of the Federal and District of 
Columbia governments on matters of design and aesthetics. Among the Commission's many 

roles are approvals of designs done by the Army’s Quartermaster Corps’ Heraldic Branch. The 

Commission approved the FAA design on July 31, 1959. 

FAA's first employee publication, Fly-By, reported that Administrator Elwood “Pete” Quesada 

formally adopted the official seal on October 29, 1959. According to the FAA 1959 annual 

report, "the seal, which is round and of simple design, has a gold border and a blue background. 

The words 'Federal Aviation Agency' and 'United States of America' are set around the edge in 

gold. These two phrases are separated by stars. In the center a winged, gold four-pointed 

compass rose is superimposed on a light green globe. The seal . . . depicts the Agency's national 

and international mission and responsibility in aviation . . ." To make the seal a matter of public 

record, the FAA published it in the Federal Register on November 5, 1959 [F.R. Doc. 59-9295]. 

The seal has undergone only minor changes through the years. 

When FAA became a modal administration under the Department 

of Transportation in 1967, the wording on FAA’s seal changed 

accordingly. For a year’s time in 2003-2004, FAA adopted a 

special 100th anniversary of flight logo. In September 2006 when 

FAA issued its new branding policy, FAA slightly altered the seal 

by removing the fleur de lis from the top of the compass.