ALCOAST 277/20 - JUL 2020 PROHIBITION OF PUBLIC DISPLAY OR DEPICTION OF DIVISIVE SYMBOLS IN THE COAST GUARD

R 171623 JUL 20
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CCG//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS //N05350//
ALCOAST 277/20
COMDTNOTE 5350
SUBJ:  PROHIBITION OF PUBLIC DISPLAY OR DEPICTION OF DIVISIVE SYMBOLS IN THE COAST GUARD
A. Civil Rights Manual, COMDTINST M5350.4
B. Discipline and Conduct Manual, COMDTINST M1600.2
1. The Secretary of Defense announced today that flags flown in the Department of
Defense (DoD) must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline,
treating all members of DoD with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols. 
The Coast Guard is no different.
2. As an Armed Service, we are physically and mentally stronger together. The
foundation of our strength and character is training and operating as one unified team. 
We are all members of the Mission Ready Total Workforce – and together we cultivate an
environment that promotes Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty. Public displays of
divisive symbols erode our Service. The Coast Guard is a unique Armed Service. 
Our afloat and shore units are typically small and our members are often stationed
and live in smaller or remote communities. Our minority service members serve alone
or in small numbers in these units and communities. Coast Guard members and their
families interact with the communities in which we serve and our relationships with
them are critical to mission accomplishment. The display of divisive symbols at a
small command in a remote location is pernicious, obstructs command unity, and can
destroy teams and be corrosive to community relationships.
3. In May 2019 updated Coast Guard policy provided that the display or depiction of a symbol
widely identified with oppression or hatred is a potential hate incident, including but
not limited to the display of a noose, a swastika, supremacist symbols, Confederate
symbols or flags, and anti-Semitic symbols. It directed commanding officers to investigate
these displays and authorized them to remove divisive symbols when warranted, even if the
display does not amount to a hate incident. There is no benefit from a display of divisive
symbols in our disaggregated and geographically widely dispersed workforce, and I have
determined that the Confederate battle flag is uniquely divisive.
4. While the Confederate battle flag may be symbolic of different beliefs, it divides
Americans and threatens our Black shipmates. In our military environment, such division
clearly endangers loyalty, discipline, and morale; undermines unit cohesion and mission
effectiveness; and marginalizes segments of our workforce. Effective immediately, display
or depiction of the Confederate battle flag is prohibited in all Coast Guard work places,
common access areas, public areas, and operating facilities. This includes barracks and
other quarters where the flag is readily visible, and the exterior of Coast Guard family
housing. It includes, but is not limited to, automobile bumper stickers and other vehicle
adornments, clothing and other apparel, and when the flag is displayed inside a vehicle but
is in plain view and readily visible to the public. Prohibited display does not include
private spaces, such as inside family housing, within personal property, or, except as
described above, private automobiles. The Confederate battle flag has a red or blue field
with two blue or red diagonal lines and white stars –
see https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/confederate-flag. This direction
will be incorporated in REF (A). 
5. Commanders will order the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the locations to
which the prohibition applies. The prohibition does not apply to state flags or to
state-issued license plates. It also does not apply to displays or depictions where the flag
is only an incidental or minor component, such as in works of art, or in educational, or
historical displays. 
6. Commanders will order the removal of other Confederate symbols or flags, or other
divisive symbols, when they determine, in consultation with the servicing legal office,
that the display or depiction of these symbols adversely affect loyalty, discipline and
morale, in consultation with the servicing legal office. 
7. Commanders will investigate the display of divisive symbols as a potential hate incident
pursuant to REF (A). REF (B) describes prohibited conduct punishable under the
UCMJ that includes intentional acts motivated by bias and targets a person who is placed in
reasonable apprehension of bodily harm, or reasonably interferes with performance of military
duties or good order and discipline. 
8. Commands shall ensure widest dissemination of this ALCOAST.
9. Points of Contact:
   a. For Civil Rights questions please contact your local Civil Rights Service Provider, a
list of which can be found at: www.uscg.mil/hq/civilrights.
   b. Military personnel policy questions contact COMDT (CG-133) at
hqs-policyandstandards@uscg.mil.
   c. Civilian personnel policy questions contact COMDT (CG-12) at
USCGOfficeofCivilianHR@uscg.mil
10. Admiral Karl L. Schultz, Commandant, sends.
11. Internet release is authorized.