A mandatory sea bag item, the Coast Guard Enlisted Cap (E-1 to E-6) for male personnel is a combination hat featuring a white crown, black synthetic leather chinstrap, a 1.35” gold and silver medallion of the Coast Guard emblem. The emblem, which comprises two crossed anchors behind a disc with the phrase “United States Coast Guard” written around its circumference in the Univers Bold font, the date “1790” (also in Univers Bold) at the bottom, and a shield of thirteen stripes in the center, was officially rendered by the Institute of Heraldry in 1966. (By statute, the Coast Guard Emblem cannot be replicated without a license agreement.)
The Coast Guard Combination Cap is always worn when outdoors and during certain indoor ceremonies. Although Coast Guard regulations do allow personnel to remove headgear when traveling in an enclosed vehicle, Guardsmen should not automatically assume they always have license to do; the regulations of other military services might call for keeping headgear on when inside vehicles, and Coast Guard uniform rules explicitly state that Coast Guard personnel who are “visiting other military visiting other military organizations will follow the customs for that organization.”