The winning entry in the Ship’s Crest Design Contest held earlier this year was LTJG Michael Nielsen of Arvada, Colorado who is now assigned to the crew of Colorado. Since reporting to the boat, he has worked with the command to make several enhancements to the design before it is finalized. The final Ships’s Crest design is shown below. Some of the modification from the original include:

• The shape of the crest was made taller to make it more coin and patch friendly.
• Inclusion of seven stars to signify the seven battle stars earned by the Battleship Colorado (BB 45) in World War II.
• Modifying the Latin phrase to “Terra Marique Indomita” which means “By land and sea, untamed”. In this form the Latin implies that Colorado, or the “spirit” embodied by the name (the state, the vessel, the past vessels, the people), is untamed by either land or sea.
• The submarine was updated to look more realistic and added in a slight wake around it to highlight the reflection as being water and give the appearance of ship movement.
• Detail was improved in the mountains to improve realism.
• The sun was given a stronger gradient to give it a better appearance of the sun resting on the horizon just over the mountains, this in order to emphasize the ties with the state’s natural beauty and the beauty of technological prowess that is USS Colorado.

USS Colorado Ship’s Crest