The U.S. Navy’s Bald Eagle Logo Wearing a Face Mask Is Not From When You Think

Social media was abuzz on Friday after Newsmax TV host John Cardillo noticed that the United States Navy’s official Twitter account featured an altered version of its logo with the bald eagle wearing a blue face mask.

Cardillo was apparently the first person to call attention to it. “The eagle in the @USNavy’s logo is wearing a mask. China, Iran, and Russia are pissing their pants laughing at us,” he tweeted.

The eagle in the @USNavy’s logo is wearing a mask.

China, Iran, and Russia are pissing their pants laughing at us. pic.twitter.com/TLPNMWVmom

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) April 9, 2021

Others on social media similarly presumed that the revised logo’s usage was fairly recent, a reflection of pandemic virtue signaling of the Biden administration.

Well, not so.

In fact, it appears that the U.S. Navy first used the masked bald eagle logo back in April 2020. A quick visit to the Navy’s Facebook pages easily confirms this.

Believe it or not, the U.S. Navy first used that altered version of their logo about a year ago. https://t.co/vsCPWLp4gn pic.twitter.com/jKdR7tKYPR

— Matt Margolis (Gab/MeWe/Heroes: @MattMargolis) (@mattmargolis) April 10, 2021

And here it is on Instagram, posted with the comment “The eagle is practicing #socialdistancing and wearing a mask when out in public. Be like the eagle. #COVID_19 #flattenthecurve”:

The U.S. Navy's Instagram page also shows the masked bald eagle was first introduced in April 2020. pic.twitter.com/T0JzgoPNNj

— Matt Margolis (Gab/MeWe/Heroes: @MattMargolis) (@mattmargolis) April 10, 2021

So, this version of the logo was first used weeks after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, not after Biden took office.

This is not the first time the U.S. Navy has used variations of its logo on social media. On December 23, 2019, the Navy posted a version of the logo styled like an ugly Christmas sweater. A month earlier, it was changed to look a turkey for Thanksgiving. While the masked bald eagle is not from the Biden era, I still can’t help wondering whether the U.S. Navy should be wasting time and resources on cutesy logo variations.