"PROUD TO CLAIM THE TITLE"
STREAMERS FOR THE US MARINE CORPS BATTLE COLOR
The United States Marine Corps Battle Color carries a set of streamers to commemorate the battles, campaigns, service and unit citations of the Corps from 1775 to the present day. As of January 2002 there were 54 streamers authorized: 42 for battles, campaigns and service, and twelve for citations. Unlike the Navy, the Marine Corps displays streamers for citations received from the Department of Defense, the US Army and foreign governments. There are also two campaign streamers that were awarded by the Commonwealth of the Philippines prior to independence, and a streamer commemorating Philippine independence. Battle streamers for the Civil War and subsequent wars and conflicts are in the colors of the ribbon of the campaign medal for award to individuals. (For earlier wars and conflicts, there are no corresponding campaign medals.) Unit citation streamers are in the colors of the service ribbon for wear by individuals of cited units. As applicable, bronze and silver stars are placed on streamers to denote battle, campaign or service credits. Each bronze star denotes one such credit, with a silver star being used in lieu of five bronze stars. The large number of credits earned for expeditionary service necessitates the use of three streamers to accommodate twelve silver and three bronze service stars, plus a silver "W" for the defense of Wake Island early in World War II. Two streamers are displayed for World War I service, and two are required to accommodate nine silver and two bronze stars for World War II Pacific service. Marine Corps streamer dimensions are 2 3/4 inches at the hoist by 3 feet on the fly. Credit: The drawings on this page are based on information from Sea Flags, the outstanding web site maintained by FOTW Mailing List member Joseph McMillan.
UNITED STATES UNIT CITATIONS
Presidential Unit Citation  •  Navy-Marine Corps-Coast Guard
Presidential Unit Citation  •  Army-Air Force	Navy Unit Commendation
Valorous Unit Citation  •  Army	Joint Services Meritorious Unit Commendation
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation	Army Meritorious Unit Commendation
UNITED STATES BATTLE, CAMPAIGN & SERVICE STREAMERS
Revolutionary War  •  1775-83
Quasi-War with France  •  1798-1801	Barbary Wars  •  1801-05 & 1815
War of 1812  •  1812-15	African Slave Trade Patrol  •  1820-61
Operations Against West Indian Pirates  •  1820-30	Indian Wars  •  1835-42
Mexican War  •  1846-48	Civil War  •  1861-65
Expeditionary Service  •  1874 to Date
Spanish-American War  •  1898	Philippine Insurrection  •  1899-1906
China Relief Expedition  •  1900-1901	Cuba Pacification Campaign  •  1906-09
Nicaraguan Campaign  •  1912	Mexican Service  •  1914-17
Haitian Service  •  1915 & 1919-20	Dominican Campaign  •  1916
World War One  •  1917-18
Army of Occupation of Germany Service	Second Nicaraguan Campaign  •  1926-33
Yangtze Service  •  1926-27 & 1930-32	China Service  •  1936-39 & 1945-57
American Defense Service  •  1939-41	World War Two American Theater  •  1941-45
World War Two Pacific Theater  •  1941-45
World War Two European Theater  •  1941-45	World War Two Victory
Occupation Service	Korean Service  •  1950-53
National Defense Service  •  1951-75 & 1990-95	Armed Forces Expeditionary Service  •  1958 to Date
Vietnam Service  •  1962-73	Southwest Asia Service  •  1990-95
Kosovo Campaign  •  1999-
PHILIPPINE COMMONWEALTH CAMPAIGN & SERVICE STREAMERS
Philippine Defense Service  •  1941-42
Philippine Liberation Service  •  1944-45	Philippine Independence Award
FOREIGN UNIT CITATIONS
French Croix d'Guerre  •  World War I
Philippine Presidential Unit Citation	Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross	Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Citation