Last modified: 2025-12-13 by rick wyatt
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In September 2025 the Department of Defense was renamed the Department of War. To date we have not located new flags specific to the Department of War. Please see our section on the Department of Defense.
This is effectively a branding change only. The Department of Defense is
still the Department of Defense under US law.
Dave Fowler, 27
September 2025
Dave Fowler is correct. The Executive Order did not "rename" the U.S. Defense
Department to War Department as supporters, detractors, and sloppy media sources
keep telling us. The Executive Order Trump signed only "allows" the use of an
alternate name (basically "brand name marketing") and only the Congress has the
power to rename any existing department. Even the alleged creation of the
so-called "DOGE" or "Department of Government Efficiency" is not actually a
Congressionally created "department", but the White House renaming an existing
White House office the "United States Digital Service" (USDS) to DOGE, which the
President can do (and likely won't last past the current term either).
From Wikipedia:
"On September 5, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an
executive order authorizing "Department of War" and "secretary of war" as
secondary titles to the main titles of "Department of Defense" and "secretary of
defense." The terms must be accommodated by federal agencies and are permitted
in executive branch communications, ceremonial settings, and non-statutory
documents. However, only an act of Congress can legally and formally change the
department's name and secretary's title, so "Department of Defense" and
"secretary of defense" remain legally official."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Defense
The text of the E.O. confirms that this:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restoring-the-united-states-department-of-war/
https://www.federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-orders/donald-trump/2025
"Sec. 2. Implementation. (a) The Secretary of Defense is authorized the
use of this additional secondary title — the Secretary of War — and may be
recognized by that title in official correspondence, public communications,
ceremonial contexts, and non-statutory documents within the executive branch.
(b) The Department of Defense and the Office of the Secretary of Defense may
be referred to as the Department of War and the Office of the Secretary of War,
respectively, in the contexts described in subsection (a) of this section."
On my site, this is how i dealt with it rather than changing the name.
5 Sep 2025 Titles "Department of War" (DoW) and "Secretary of War"
authorized as a secondary titles by Executive Order (EO 14347).
Ben
Cahoon, 1 November 2025