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Director of National Intelligence (U.S.)

DNI

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 February 2007

Director's flag
Deputy Director's flag
Order of Precedence
United States Intelligence Community

See also:

Description of the flag

This position was introduced to succeed the Director of the CIA in 2005.

The seal on the flag is the central device here at www.dni.gov/. A flag with a blue background was seen for the DCI at http://www.dni.gov/negroponte.html (no longer available), and with a white background for the Deputy DCI at http://www.dni.gov/hayden.html (no longer available).
David C. Fowler, 10 January 2006

As a part of the overall findings of the 9/11 Commission in July 2004, Congress approved the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 on December 8, 2004. This law established a new position, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) serves as the head person in the US Intelligence Community and as the President's advisor for intelligence matters; the DNI also advises the National Security Council. He is assisted by a Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI). Both the DNI and PDDNI are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The current DNI is John Negroponte; he took office on April 21, 2005. The position of PDDNI has been vacant since Gen. Michael Hayden became Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA).

The creation of the ODNI had one change for the CIA. After April 21, 2005, the office of Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) was abolished and the office was replaced with the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA). The D/CIA manages the CIA and does any Intelligence task asked of him by the President and the DNI. The D/CIA is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

The flag of the DNI is a blue field, on it is the seal of the ODNI. The seal contains these elements. The eagle represents the sovereignty of the US; the shield has 13 red and white stripes. The red color is for valor and hardiness; the white is for purity and innocence. The DNI has their own meaning for E Pluribus Unum. It is the union of the Intelligence Community under the ODNI. The olive branches and arrows are for the power of peace and war, respectfully. The blue field of the seal is for, in the ODNI's words, "vigilance, perseverance and justice". The 50 star represent the states and the gold lettering on the seal represents, again in the ODNI's words, "integrity and the highest ideals and goals".

The PDDNI's flag is same as the DNI's except the seal is on a white field.

I used three main sources for this message:

1) World Statesmen: www.worldstatesmen.org/USA_govt2.html#CIA
2) The ODNI website: www.odni.gov/
3) The CIA Factbook on Intelligence - The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and his Directors: www.cia.gov/cia/publications/facttell/dci_and_deputies.html

Joshua Holman, 28 October 2006

Deputy Director's flag

image by Eugene Ipavec, 12 June 2006

I have found no photographic evidence that a white flag for the deputy director actually exists. In formal portraits, the deputy uses the blue ODNI flag.
Dave Fowler, 10 April 2021

Order of Precedence

The US Intelligence Community has an order of precedence of its member agency in its flag display. An 18th member was added in late 2020, when the US Space Force became part of the community. The Director of National Intelligence presides over and coordinates intelligence from them, but does not actually "own" any of them.
Photo on this page: https://www.intelligence.gov/how-the-ic-works

1) United States
2) US Army
3) US Marine Corps
4) US Navy
5) US Air Force
6) US Space Force
7) US Coast Guard
8) Department of State
9) Department of the Treasury*
10) Department of Energy
11) Department of Homeland Security
12) Office of the Director of National Intelligence
13) Federal Bureau of Investigation
14) US Central Intelligence Agency
15) National Security Agency/Central Security Service
16) National Reconnaissance Office
17) Defense Intelligence Agency
18) National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
19) US Drug Enforcement Administration

*Sometimes the Kelly green Treasury flag with an elaborate emblem is used, and sometimes the simpler blue flag with seal is used.

So far, no photos have surfaced with the Space Force flag, but its position can be inferred by military orders of precedence.

The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Bureau of Customs and Border Protection have been mentioned in the recent past as potential new members. However, this is controversial due to actions under the previous administration, and debate as to whether they are net producers or consumers of raw intelligence. The judgment at the time was that the timing for membership was not right.
Dave Fowler, 10 April 2021

United States Intelligence Community

image located by Esteban Rivera, 6 July 2023
seen at Wikipedia

The United States Intelligence Community (IC) is a group of separate United States government intelligence agencies and subordinate organizations that work both separately and collectively to conduct intelligence activities which support the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States. Member organizations of the IC include intelligence agencies, military intelligence, and civilian intelligence and analysis offices within federal executive departments.

The IC is overseen by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which is headed by the Director of National Intelligence who reports directly to the president of the United States. The IC was established by Executive Order 12333 ("United States Intelligence Activities"), signed on December 4, 1981 (source: https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/eo12333.html). The statutory definition of the IC, including its roster of agencies, was codified as the Intelligence Organization Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102–496, H.R. 5095, 106 Stat. 3188) (source: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF10527).

The Washington Post reported in 2010 that there were 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies in 10,000 locations in the United States that were working on counterterrorism, homeland security, and intelligence, and that the intelligence community as a whole would include 854,000 people holding top-secret clearances. According to a 2008 study by the ODNI, private contractors make up 29% of the workforce in the U.S. intelligence community and account for 49% of their personnel budgets.

The Intelligence Community as a whole traces its origins to several early (and still existing) agencies, mainly the Office of Naval Intelligence and the FBI.
Sources: https://www.odni.gov/index.php/what-we-do/members-of-the-ic and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Intelligence_Community

The flag is the seal over a dark blue horizontal background.

Detail of seal

image located by Esteban Rivera, 6 July 2023
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Intelligence_Community

For additional information go to (U.S.) Intelligence (official website): https://www.intelligence.gov/

Esteban Rivera, 6 July 2023

Although the flag has been around awhile, it was actually fairly rarely seen. It seems to have made a comeback under the current ODNI, Avril Haines.
There are currently eighteen member agencies, including the ODNI itself.
Dave Fowler, 6 July 2023

I attended a conference at the Springfield, Virginia, headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). On the stage where the keynote speakers gave their addresses were arranged military and intelligence flags, in the following order:
1. US national flag
2. US Army
3. US Marine Corps
4. US Navy
5. US Air Force
6. US Space Force
7. US Coast Guard
8. Department of Defense (light blue with DoD seal in the center)
9. Office of the Director of National Intelligence
10. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
11. Restricted Line Officers Vice Admiral rank flag. This final flag in the row was the rank flag for the current Director of NGA, Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth III.

Nowhere in the lineup, however, was the flag of the Intelligence Community, though I did find it interesting that the Defense Department flag, reported as unofficial on FOTW as recently as 2005, appears to be used in an official capacity. Whether or not it has been formally adopted as such, I don't know. But this isn't the first time that I've seen a Defense Department flag in an official colors display.
Randy Young, 8 July 2023

From what I've gathered at the Institute of Heraldry, I think that the DOD seal flag remains de facto, and not de jure. When there was a big flag display at the White House under the last administration at a full cabinet meeting, most members had departmental flags, but the DOD had the secretarial flag.
Dave Fowler, 8 July 2023