The image of a crescent moon has long been asso-ciated with the preparation and dispensation of food and other subsistence items in the United States military. In the 1902 Manual for the Subsistence Department of the Army, we read that “there will be stenciled on both ends of all packages, boxes, etc., the distinctive symbol of the Subsistence, viz, the crescen….” In the Coast Guard, a crescent moon was introduced in 1920 as the symbol for the rating of Ship’s Cook; it went to also be used to represent Stewards, Stewards, and Mess Attendants. And the United States Public Health Service selected a crescent to denote the First Cook position.
But the Merchant Marine’s inspiration for using a crescent moon as the departmental insignia for Stewards most likely came from the closely linked United States Maritime Service, established in 1938 to train America’s merchant seamen. The crescent moon was the symbol of the Steward branch of service in the USMS, so it was only natural that it would be embraced the Merchant Marine as the insignia for Officers serving in food preparation (aboard any type of ship) or in hospitality (cruise ships, ferries, and other passenger vessels).