Happy Birthday U.S. Coast Guard!

On August 4, 1790, Congress authorized the building of a fleet of ten cutters, whose responsibility would be enforcement of the first tariff laws enacted by Congress under the Constitution. The date is celebrated as Coast Guard Day to honor the establishment of the Revenue Cutter Service, forbearer of today’s Coast Guard.

The name Coast Guard didn't come about until 1915 when the Revenue Cutter Service was merged with the Lifesaving Service. The Lighthouse Service also joined the Coast Guard in 1939, and the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection in 1946. In 1967, after 177 years in the Treasury Department, the Coast Guard was transferred to the newly-formed Department of Transportation. The Coast Guard was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, a change that reflects its growing and significant role in protecting our nation’s borders and its involvement in our country's fight against terrorism.