Can You Use a Federal Logo? Allowed Uses, Crimes, and Penalties

You can use a federal logo in some situations and not in others, and the dividing line is usually whether your use suggests the government sponsors, endorses, or is affiliated with what you’re doing. News reporting, educational materials, and plain factual reference are generally permitted. Putting an agency seal on a product, an advertisement, a business name, or a fake ID card is not, and depending on the symbol and the conduct, the penalties run from a $5,000 fine and six months in jail to five years in federal prison.

Uses That Are Generally Allowed

News reporting is the clearest safe harbor. Showing a federal seal in a photograph, broadcast, or article about an actual news event is permitted. Executive Order 11649 explicitly allows photographic and video reproduction of the Presidential seal in connection with genuine news coverage, and the same principle carries over to other federal symbols: a newspaper article about an FDA recall can display the FDA logo in context without a legal problem.

Educational and historical uses are also generally protected. Books, encyclopedias, museum exhibits, and academic materials that describe the history of federal seals, heraldry, or government institutions can reproduce these symbols. The catch is that the reproduction has to stay inside the educational content. Placing the Presidential seal on a book cover as a marketing device is specifically prohibited even when the book’s content is legitimately educational.

Reference and informational uses round out the safe territory. A website that factually describes what an agency does and shows its logo to identify the agency is different from a website that displays the logo to suggest the agency approves of the site’s products. The question a court asks is whether a reasonable person would come away believing the government stands behind whatever they’re looking at. When the answer is no, the use typically falls outside the criminal statutes.

Uses That Cross Into a Crime

The government’s position is that you cannot use a federal agency’s name, logo, or trademark in a way that suggests the agency sponsors, endorses, or is affiliated with your product or service.¹ Putting an agency seal on your social media page, product packaging, or advertisement to borrow the government’s credibility crosses the line even without the words “endorsed by.”

The rules are strictest in banking and finance. A separate federal statute makes it a crime for banking, insurance, lending, and similar businesses to use words like “Federal,” “National,” “United States,” or “Deposit Insurance” in their firm names without authorization, or to falsely suggest their products are insured or guaranteed by agencies like the FDIC or NCUA.²

Badges, ID Cards, and Agency Insignia

The broadest prohibition on federal insignia is 18 U.S.C. § 701, which makes it illegal to manufacture, sell, or possess any badge, identification card, or other insignia that matches a design used by a federal department or agency, unless authorized by regulation.³ It covers the actual items and any look-alike close enough to pass for the real thing, and it also reaches anyone who photographs, prints, engraves, or otherwise reproduces the insignia or a convincing imitation.

You do not need to use the item to deceive anyone. Simple possession of an unauthorized reproduction is enough. A novelty FBI badge bought at a flea market or a fake DEA ID card ordered online can create criminal exposure even if it never leaves a drawer. The penalty is a fine, up to six months of imprisonment, or both.³

The Great Seal and the Presidential and Congressional Seals

18 U.S.C. § 713 protects the Great Seal of the United States and the seals of the President, Vice President, Senate, House of Representatives, and Congress. It does two things at once.

First, it prohibits displaying any of these seals in advertisements, publications, broadcasts, buildings, or public events in a way that creates a false impression of government sponsorship or approval.⁴ A company that puts the Presidential seal on its website or marketing brochure to suggest the White House backs its product falls squarely within this prohibition.

Second, it makes it illegal to manufacture, reproduce, sell, or buy for resale any likeness of the Presidential or Vice Presidential seal, or a substantial portion of it, without authorization. The same rule applies to the Senate, House, and Congressional seals, each governed by authorization from the respective chamber or its officers.⁴ Either violation carries a fine, up to six months in prison, or both.

Narrow Carveouts Under Executive Order 11649

Executive Order 11649, as later amended, allows reproduction of the Presidential or Vice Presidential seal in limited situations:

Use by the President or Vice President themselves
Encyclopedias, books, journals, and similar publications describing the history of the seals, heraldry, or the presidency, within the text only; the seal cannot appear on a book cover
Library, museum, or educational exhibits about seals, heraldry, or the presidency
Architectural features in presidential libraries or archives housing a former president’s papers
Monuments to former presidents or vice presidents
News photography or video of genuine news events
Other exceptional uses approved in writing by the Counsel to the President

Anything outside that list requires written authorization from the White House Counsel. The news-coverage exception applies to genuine reporting, not to promotional material dressed up to look like news.

Military Medals, Decorations, and Badges

Military insignia have their own statute. Under 18 U.S.C. § 704, it’s illegal to manufacture, sell, purchase for resale, or trade any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces, along with associated service badges, ribbons, buttons, or rosettes. Convincing imitations are covered too. The base penalty is a fine, up to six months of imprisonment, or both.⁵

Penalties climb for specific high-valor decorations. Fraudulently claiming to be a recipient of the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Silver Star, Purple Heart, or a combat badge, with intent to obtain money, property, or another tangible benefit, carries up to one year in prison.⁵

Stamping a Government Seal on a Document

When someone actually affixes or impresses a federal agency seal onto a certificate, legal instrument, or official-looking document, 18 U.S.C. § 1017 applies and the consequences jump. The statute covers fraudulently stamping an agency seal onto a document and knowingly trafficking in documents that already bear a fraudulently applied seal.⁶

It also reaches anyone who manufactures, reproduces, sells, or possesses a federal agency seal itself, or a likeness or substantial part of one, for any purpose not authorized by law. Creating a realistic replica of an agency seal for a film prop or a novelty product can violate § 1017 without legal authorization. Because the offense involves document fraud, the penalty is a fine, up to five years in federal prison, or both.⁶ That makes it a felony, compared with the misdemeanor-level penalties under §§ 701, 713, and 704(a).

Penalties at a Glance

The offenses under §§ 701, 713, and 704(a) carry up to six months of imprisonment, which classifies them as Class B misdemeanors.⁷ The general federal fine statute caps the fine for an individual at $5,000 and for an organization at $10,000.⁸

The enhanced military-decoration offenses under § 704(b)–(d) carry up to one year, making them Class A misdemeanors. The maximum fine rises to $100,000 for an individual and $200,000 for an organization.⁸

For § 1017, the maximum is five years. When a defendant profits from the offense or causes someone a financial loss, the court can impose an alternative fine of up to twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss, whichever is greater.⁸ For a large-scale counterfeiting or fraud operation, that calculation can dwarf the standard caps.

Summary of the tiers:

Possessing or reproducing federal badges or agency insignia (§ 701): up to 6 months, up to $5,000 for individuals
Misusing the Great Seal or Presidential/Congressional seals (§ 713): up to 6 months, up to $5,000 for individuals
Selling or manufacturing unauthorized military decorations (§ 704(a)): up to 6 months, up to $5,000 for individuals
Fraudulently claiming high-valor military decorations for profit (§ 704(b)–(d)): up to 1 year, up to $100,000 for individuals
Fraudulently using a government agency seal on a document (§ 1017): up to 5 years, fine set by statute or tied to gain or loss

If You’re Not Sure, Ask

The safest approach when a use is ambiguous is to request written permission from the agency involved. Some agencies publish specific guidance on authorized use of their marks, and written approval removes the guesswork. For the Presidential and Vice Presidential seals in particular, exceptional uses outside the Executive Order’s list require written sign-off from the Counsel to the President.

1
USAGov. Learn About Copyright and Federal Government Materials
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 709 – False Advertising or Misuse of Names to Indicate Federal Agency
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 701 – Official Badges, Identification Cards, Other Insignia
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 713 – Use of Likenesses of the Great Seal of the United States, the Seals of the President and Vice President, the Seal of the United States Senate, the Seal of the United States House of Representatives, and the Seal of the United States Congress
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 704 – Military Medals or Decorations
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1017 – Government Seals Wrongfully Used and Instruments Wrongfully Sealed
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3571 – Sentence of Fine