U.S. Highway shield

The U.S. Route shield is the highway marker used for United States Numbered Highways. Since the first U.S. Route signs were installed in 1926, the general idea has remained the same, but many changes have been made in the details. Originally, the shield included the name of the state in which the sign was erected and the letters "U S" on a shield-shaped sign. Over time, the shield has been simplified to consist of a white shield outline on a black square background, containing only a black route number. However, because each state is responsible for the production and maintenance of U.S. route shields, several variants of the shield have existed over the years.

The U.S. Route shield was developed during the first meeting of the Joint Board on Interstate Highways, a panel appointed by Howard M. Gore, the Secretary of Agriculture, for the purposes of establishing a nationwide highway system. During the meeting, held at the Bureau of Public Roads offices in Washington, D.C., on April 20, 1925, board member Lou A. Boulay of Ohio was credited with suggesting the use of a shield, inspired by that on the Great Seal of the United States, with the letters "U.S.A." and the route number as a route marker. The board carried the motion to use a shield as the marker.

The Joint Board did not discuss the route shield further until the next day, April 21. At that time, E.W. James (Chief of the BPR's Division of Design and secretary of the Joint Board) and Frank F. Rogers of Michigan sketched a possible implementation of the shield. Rogers was also quoted as saying "Each state should have the right to insert the name of the state in the upper part of the shield to be adopted." James and Rogers presented their shield sketch to the board, and it was approved as a tentative design. Samples were sent for comment to all 48 states.

The shield was next discussed during the meeting of August 3. Upon motion by Cyrus Avery of Oklahoma, the board officially adopted the shield proposed at the April 21 meeting, having received general support from the states. A debate then ensued regarding the inclusion of the state name. W.O. Hotchkiss of Wisconsin, who was in favor of removing the state name, said "We want to emphasize the U.S., not the state. The shield and U.S. symbolized what we are marking." The Joint Board voted 10–9 to eliminate the state name.

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