From its creation through the merger of the United States Life-saving Service and the United States Revenue Cutter Service, the Coast Guard has awarded enlisted personnel with a service stripe, or hashmark, for every four full years of active-duty or reserve service in any of the Armed Forces of the United States, including the National Guard. (When the Coast Guard was formed in 1915 that figure was three years). The four years of service can be cumulative and does not have to be in a single service. Coast Guardsmen who have accrued between 12 and 14 years of qualifying Federal service wear three service stripes.
Worn on the left sleeve of blue Service coats and Dinner Dress Jackets and the white Dinner Dress Jacket, Coast Guard service stripes are issued in different colors based upon the recipient’s enlisted grade. Third to First Class Petty Officers (E-4 to E-6) are awarded scarlet or navy blue stripes (navy blue is worn only on the Dinner Dress White Jacket), while Chief Petty Officers (CPOs), Senior CPOs, and Master CPOs are issued gold stripes. Stripes are always embroidered onto backing material that matches the jacket or coat fabric on which they will be sewn.