The original purpose of the Revenue Cutter was to collect tariffs and other taxes that were imposed on foreign goods. This new flag was actively flown on Revenue Cutters, what we now call Coast Guard Cutters. This was done so that non-military ships would be easily recognized and not fired upon as they tried to hail and board foreign vessels. It is significant that Wolcott’s new civilian flag had vertical stripes, not horizontal. Wolcott's proposal featured: An ensign, consisting of sixteen alternating red and white stripes representing the number of states that had joined the Union by 1799 and the Union, represented by the small rectangle in the upper left corner, with its Arms (an Eagle) of the United States in dark blue on a white field. the Secretary of the Treasury under John Adams. Flag, which denoted civilian versus military purposes, was designed in 1799 by Oliver Wolcott Jr.
