Meaning
Color Elements
- Gold outer ring pays tribute to the Department of Defense and the technicians of the Defense
Mapping Agency who after WWII created the worldwide Military Grid Reference System (MGRS)
upon which the U.S. National Grid is based. - Red, white and blue color inner theme aligns with U.S. national colors and matches the color
scheme of Interstate highway markers, signage for a transportation system which unified the
nation and standardized location description across America. - Combination of colors red and gold honor Major Tom Terry of the USMC who authored Federal
Geographic Data Committee standard FGDC-STD-011-2001, U.S. National Grid. - Combination of colors blue and white honor Col. Jules McNeff, USAF, who was key to early
USNG adoption efforts. - Red as a standalone color specifically honors the lifesaving efforts of the fire service which are
empowered by USNG. - Blue as a standalone color specifically honors the lifesaving efforts of Law Enforcement which
are empowered by USNG. - White as a standalone color specifically honors the lifesaving efforts of the Emergency Medical
Service which are empowered by USNG. - Inner grid shown enclosed by a circle is used to denote U.S. National Grid is part of a global
system – MGRS. - The United States is shown without state boundaries to denote USNG is not impacted by
administrative boundaries. It is a standardized and highly efficient way to report location
anywhere across the nation. - Laurel leave separators denote United States National Grid Institute (USNGI) mission excellence
through efforts to promote USNG awareness and training. 10 leaves are used to denote the
base numerical system of the USNG. - XY honors The Public XY Mapping Project, genesis of all USNG adoption efforts since
1997.