Technician Quest Organization

There has been much debate about the United States of America Civilian Peacetime Flag. Whether or not it is an official flag of the United States government. In this article I aim to satisfy the curiosity and investigate the historical foundation for the vertical stripes on these flags and the use of civilian activity in government. First of all it should be understood by all people who live here in the United States of America, the government is derived from the consent of the governed. Originally the United States of America in its early days operated on the sacred honor and the fortune of government servants who provided governmental services. Today we have incorporated subsidiaries that hold insurance and that insulate the owners of governmental services corporations through limited liability charters. It is difficult for most of us to understand that we lost the original foundations of our government after the Civil War through ossification of our original sovereignty. Teaching that historical concept of our history is out of the scope of this article, but look for it later in future posts.

The fundamental principle and its meaning of the United States of America Civilian Peacetime Fag today, is to identify that it is a spontaneous organization of the people and their will to create services for themselves. Therefore when you see a flag like this it is not necessarily authorized by a centralized U.S. authority. These flags exist to identify the individuality and sovereign power of those who use the flag. It doesn’t represent the United States government. It represents those who fly this flag are at peace and engaged in private civilian activity. In the beginning that was how our government operated. Before the Civil War it was generally understood that there is the People and the government. But after the Civil War under the illusion of freeing the slaves, the 14th Amendment was crafted, its real intentions to identify and classify the citizen. So you have two different classes of individuals one is a People, the other is a citizen. And it’s easy for anyone to claim that these are one and the same but I argue that they are not and for a certain reason. Teaching this about the difference between the public and private is a training lesson available in later posts.

The question about why the stripes are vertical has to do with the concept “united we stand divided we fall”.

The national shield is a compact visual lesson in federalism: the states (vertical stripes) provide the foundation and strength, while the federal government (blue chief) unites and protects the whole. Its design, finalized in 1782, has remained essentially unchanged for over 240 years, making it one of the most enduring symbols of the American republic.

In the turbulent years following the American Revolution, the newly independent United States faced a stark reality: a fragile federal government with limited resources, a war-ravaged economy, and a pressing need to establish public services that could sustain the young nation. The framers of the Constitution had envisioned a republic where power flowed from the people, but translating that ideal into functional governance required more than legislation. It demanded civilian ingenuity, local organization, and pragmatic experimentation. Many of the enduring departments and agencies of the modern U.S. government trace their roots not to top-down mandates from Washington, D.C., but to grassroots or entrepreneurial efforts by ordinary citizens, merchants, and community leaders who identified urgent public needs and filled them through voluntary or semi-official means. Over time, these initiatives were formalized, funded, and absorbed into the federal structure, evolving from ad hoc civilian endeavors into professional agencies that define American public service today.

One of the clearest and most emblematic examples, is the United States Revenue Cutter Service. Originally known as the  Revenue-Marine, which began as a civilian maritime enforcement arm under the Department of the Treasury in 1790. Far from a military creation, it arose from the practical necessities of revenue collection in a nation still recovering from debt and vulnerable to smuggling. Its story illustrates how civilians, guided by visionary leaders like Alexander Hamilton, organized a public service that laid the foundation for what would become the U.S. Coast Guard. This service’s distinctive flag, with its vertical red and white stripes, became a symbol of civilian authority at sea. Yet the Revenue Cutter Service was not an isolated case. Parallel developments in postal systems, lifesaving operations, lighthouse maintenance, and other essential functions reveal a recurring pattern: civilians stepping forward to solve collective problems, only for the federal government to later institutionalize and expand those efforts into permanent agencies.

The post revolutionary era was marked by economic instability. The Articles of Confederation had left the central government powerless to tax or regulate commerce effectively. Smuggling flourished along the Atlantic coast, depriving the fledgling republic of critical tariff revenue needed to pay war debts and establish credit abroad. Merchants and coastal communities bore the brunt, but no unified federal mechanism existed to enforce trade laws. In 1789, as the First Congress convened under the new Constitution, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton recognized that without reliable customs enforcement, the government would collapse financially. Hamilton, drawing on his own experience as a young merchant clerk in the Caribbean and his deep study of political economy, proposed a practical solution rooted in civilian organization rather than a standing navy (which Congress had not yet re-established).

On August 4, 1790, President George Washington signed into law the Tariff Act, which included Section 62 authorizing the construction of up to ten “boats or cutters” for revenue protection. This was no grand naval fleet but a modest civilian fleet of small, armed schooners and sloops, each assigned to specific ports from New England to Georgia. The vessels were built locally by private shipyards using domestic materials, reflecting Hamilton’s emphasis on economic self-sufficiency. Officers and crews were civilians—customs officials rather than military personnel appointed by the President but operating under Treasury oversight. Their duties included boarding incoming ships, inspecting manifests, sealing hatches to prevent smuggling, and enforcing quarantine and neutrality laws. The service was explicitly designed as a law-enforcement body, not a war fighting force, though cutters could be pressed into temporary naval service during crises like the Quasi-War with France (1798–1800) or the War of 1812.

This civilian foundation was deliberate. Hamilton argued in Federalist No. 12 that “a few armed vessels, judiciously stationed at the entrances of our ports, might at small expense be made useful sentinels of the laws.” The Revenue-Marine (as it was commonly called until the 1890s) embodied civilian-led public service: merchants and local leaders provided intelligence on smuggling routes, while Treasury collectors managed operations at the ports. No uniforms were initially funded, so the cutters relied on a unique flag to assert authority and distinguish themselves from pirates or privateers. In 1799, Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott Jr. formalized this with an ensign featuring 16 vertical (perpendicular) alternating red and white stripes across the field—symbolizing the 16 states in the Union at the time—and the dark blue U.S. Coat of Arms (a bald eagle with shield, olive branch, arrows, and stars) in the white canton. This design, authorized under the Customs Administration Act, was purely functional: it signaled government boarding authority without mimicking the horizontal stripes of the national ensign or military flags. The vertical orientation underscored its civilian, regulatory purpose, peaceful enforcement rather than combat.

The 1836 version of this ensign, often cited in historical records, refined the artistic details of the eagle and shield while preserving the core layout. Rendered in durable fabrics for sea use, it featured a more stylized eagle clutching the national shield (blue chief over vertical red-and-white stripes) amid a circle of stars. Similar iterations appeared in 1815, 1841, 1867, and 1868, with minor updates to proportions and star arrangements reflecting evolving artistic standards and occasional official tweaks. These flags were never parade standards; they were practical tools for maritime law enforcement, flown from cutters to compel compliance from merchant vessels within four leagues of the coast. Historians note that the vertical stripes distinguished the service as a “civil” arm of government, a detail later romanticized in literature such as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1850), where a customs-house flag with vertical stripes is described as symbolizing “civil, and not military” authority. This passage, though fictionalized, helped fuel later misconceptions about a separate “civilian peacetime flag,” but the ensign’s true role was always tied to the Revenue-Marine’s enforcement mandate.

Operationally, the Revenue Cutter Service proved indispensable. In its first decades, cutters suppressed piracy in the Gulf of Mexico, enforced the slave trade ban after 1807, and assisted during the Seminole Wars (1836–1842) by conducting combined naval and land operations. During the Civil War, the service—by then increasingly referred to as the Revenue Cutter Service in statutes—supported Union blockades and revenue collection. Cutters captured Confederate vessels, patrolled for blockade runners, and even participated in the Mexican-American War (1846–1848). Throughout, it remained a civilian organization under Treasury control, with officers holding customs commissions rather than military ranks. Crews included local mariners, reinforcing its community roots. Expansion was organic: as the nation grew westward and acquired territories like Alaska in 1867, cutters extended enforcement to new frontiers, protecting fisheries, enforcing quarantines, and aiding distressed vessels—a humanitarian role that emerged naturally from their patrols.

This pattern of civilian initiative formalizing into federal agency recurs across early American history. Consider the U.S. Postal Service. In colonial times, private riders and local postmasters handled mail delivery under British authority. Benjamin Franklin, appointed postmaster general for the colonies in 1753, professionalized the system through efficient routes and accounting. By 1775, the Continental Congress established the Constitutional Post as a civilian network to support the Revolution, free from British control. The 1789 Postal Act formalized it under federal authority, with Franklin’s innovations becoming the backbone of the Post Office Department (later the U.S. Postal Service). What began as community-driven communication evolved into a nationwide public service, funded by user fees yet operated for the common good.

Similarly, the U.S. Life-Saving Service originated from civilian volunteer efforts. In the early 19th century, shipwrecks claimed thousands of lives along treacherous coasts. Local fishermen, wreckers, and humanitarian societies formed volunteer crews, manning lifeboats and stations with donated equipment. Congress recognized this in 1848 by funding “houses of refuge” and equipment for volunteers. By 1871, these stations were reorganized under Treasury oversight, and in 1878 became the formal U.S. Life-Saving Service—a professional civilian agency with paid surfmen. Its stations dotted the shores, performing daring rescues that saved over 177,000 lives by 1915. Like the Revenue Cutter Service, it operated under civilian principles: community-based, humanitarian, and focused on public welfare rather than warfare.

The Lighthouse Service followed a comparable trajectory. Colonial lighthouses were often maintained by local merchants or port authorities. The 1789 Lighthouse Act transferred them to federal control under the Treasury Department, creating a civilian service of keepers—many civilians or retired mariners—who tended beacons to aid navigation. This service expanded with the nation’s coastline, incorporating fog signals and lifesaving elements. In 1939, it too merged into the Coast Guard.

The Revenue Cutter Service’s evolution culminated in its 1915 merger with the Life-Saving Service. By the early 20th century, overlapping missions—maritime safety, law enforcement, and search-and-rescue—highlighted inefficiencies. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Coast Guard Act on January 28, 1915, creating the United States Coast Guard as a military service under Treasury (later Transportation, then Homeland Security). The new agency retained the Revenue Cutter Service’s ensign (updated with the Coast Guard badge) and the Life-Saving Service’s rescue expertise. Additional mergers followed: the Lighthouse Service in 1939 and Steamboat Inspection Service in 1942. What began as civilian-organized efforts in revenue protection, lifesaving, and navigation became a unified federal agency embodying both military readiness and civilian humanitarian traditions.

The Revenue Cutter Service’s vertical-striped ensign endures today in the Coast Guard ensign, a direct link to its civilian origins. The 16 stripes remain fixed, symbolizing the 1799 Union, while the eagle and arms affirm federal authority. Revenue ensign was agency-specific, not a replacement for the Stars and Stripes.

These examples teach profound lessons about American governance. The early republic lacked a large bureaucracy; citizens filled voids through local action, voluntary associations, and entrepreneurial problem-solving. Hamilton’s Revenue-Marine, Franklin’s postal reforms, volunteer lifesavers, and lighthouse keepers demonstrate how public services emerged bottom-up. Congress and presidents then provided structure, funding, and scalability, transforming ad hoc efforts into enduring agencies. This hybrid model—civilian innovation plus federal institutionalization—allowed the U.S. to balance liberty with effective governance. It explains the Coast Guard’s unique dual character: military in wartime, civilian-focused in peacetime.

In 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter (in the “Custom-House” introductory sketch) described a customs flag over a government building with “the thirteen stripes turned vertically, instead of horizontally,” suggesting a “civil, and not a military” post. This was a fictionalized reference to the actual Revenue Cutter/Customs ensign (which had 16 stripes, not 13). Hawthorne’s passage later became a key “source” cited by modern proponents. It decisively identifies a second government that was well understood at the time that Government is Ordained and established by the People. It is not a competitive front to dismantle existing government but to organize or be self governed.

Today, this legacy carries on to help the people identify their sovereign right to self determination and to engage in peaceful diplomatic relations. This flag advocates for peace and prevents the assumption of the Federal Agenda in an individuals day to day activity in the civilian realm. The specific 13-vertical-stripe + 50-star “United States of America Civilian Peacetime Flag” (the one commonly sold and flown today) did not exist until after Hawaii’s statehood in 1959, as it incorporates the current 50-star union. Later in the late 1990’s and Early 2000’s assemblies began to form to uphold ideals from the previous generations such as the John Birch Society. Some individuals of notoriety are Anna Von Reitz and David Lester Strait, who advocated for using this flag in the early 2010s as a way to create an internationally recognized status. A nationality as State Citizens or State Nationals as defined in Titile 8 Section 1101 of the United States Code. David Lester Strait utilized The Treaty of international Civil Political Rights while Anna Von Reitz utilized Uniform Commercial Code as a creditor to United States government. Both of these organizations attempted to diplomatically, peacefully, communicate. They sent letters in to the government by the millions declaring repudiation of citizenship and creating assemblies. They challenged the standing of judges and achieved international diplomatic immunity form the corporate governmental services corporation. This flag can be used in court or in public demonstrations but not to subvert the law of State or Federal Government. It is used to prevent the assumption of citizenship or the dominion over the People by the government. It is a reminder that the People are the sovereign and is flown by those who understand the difference between a people and a citizenry.

Some are utilizing this United States of America Civilian Peacetime Flag to organize a new government in response to the perceived tyranny of the current corporate governmental construct, which is their right. The problem is that action is not a peaceful activity, and is not a private civilian one. A proper use of the The United States of America Civilian Peacetime Flag is for use on private property or peaceful assembly. The United States of America Civilian Peacetime flag is not to be used to organize Militia. The civilian flag denotes that the jurisdiction, that flag is on or is representing, is common law, or the law of the land and soil. Any attempt to define a just cause to rebel against the current ordained and established government is simply inciting a conflict against the citizenry. Such conflicts already have a peaceful process udder the United States Title 4 Flag because that is available for resolution via elections, debate, and the first Amendment. Once the second amendment is brandished the effect of soft power is lost and the diplomatic relations are lost. Instantly, the liability of civil rights guarantees by the corporate governmental services construct are invoked. To guarantee individual rights and to be a party to the constitution is only via a declaration of independence at an individual level. Not one of building up military force. The 4th Continental Congress by Dominick R. Brienzi III, does a great job of respecting the flag providing comprehensive dignity in its display. However this idea that an entirely new government is being formed without the attempt at reforming the current one makes the concept moot and renders the current use of the United States of America Civilian Peacetime Flag that of a “sovereign citizen” claim. As you know “sovereign citizens” don’t exist, it’s conspiracy theory rhetoric that we get all the time for simply declaring our right as people to be sovereign. Use of this United States of America Civilian Peacetime Flag can be used by an individual while asserting and declaring their sovereignty. It can be used by assemblies of individuals but it always remains the representation of an individual choice of a man or woman, not to represent a newly formed government declaring that it has established a new Congress. This is because for sovereignty to exist there must be the ability to defend it and that is the role of the United States of America Armed forces as governed in military jurisdiction. Therefor the History of the United States of America and its various renditions of civilian flags have always been used to display sovereign power in an international setting for international commerce, international disputes, conduct on the high seas, shipping in continuous zones, customs and immigration enforcement, courtrooms, and at the United Nations. The United States of America Civilian Peacetime Flag is not for domestic purposes because the citizenry do not know their history as they have not been taught to pledge allegiance to this flag. The citizenry are operating under the construct of the Governmental Services Corporation. Flagging is a justified and reasonable form of communication and is typically reserved for international relations.

Often times we are told that this is not a real flag because the channels of information we get that define what a flags are under the control of a corporate governmental services corporation that has to define what is acceptable for the citizenry. However sometimes the challenges arise where the individual needs to assert their individual rights and stand their ground as a people. The British monarchy has over the years, corrupted our courts. We have found ways to beat them at their game by defining our status, standing, and jurisdiction via a notice of special appearance and other prerequisites that are earned over time. The United States of America Civilian Peacetime Flag is prominently displayed in court communications, on paper, or on a small flag on a desk like an international diplomat will do in open dialog among negotiation of state interests. Flags are used to prevent the assumption of incorrect status or nationality. The United States of America’s Civilian Peacetime flag is internationally recognized as being from the same locality as United States. The difference between the United States of America and the United States is, one is of and by the people and the other is a corporation. Fundamentally understanding this creates a combination of status, standing, and jurisdiction. When declarations are made in commutations to a foreign power about ones individual status, this create standing as defined buy the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. This Individuality is the highest authority of the land when appropriated correctly.