The Department of Homeland Security is expected to change its seal to reflect the current nature of the agency, one set on military readiness and threat prevention.
Speaking to Fox News, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, “Every single day I get a briefing; every single day we have new threats, and every single day the threats are changing.” He explained, “Every time we stop a threat, a terrorist act, or a criminal activity that’s taken place, they also change their tactics. We have to be constantly moving from cyber to sea, to air, and to land. We are constantly moving.”
“In fact, I tell you, if you look at most of our seals throughout all the agencies — the eagle looks to the palm leaf, because that’s in a time of peace. We’re actually changing our seal to make it look towards the arrows because when it looks towards the arrows, it means we’re at war,” he said, adding, “Homeland Security is at war every single day against bad actors trying to hurt our backyards, and we’re not going to allow that to happen.”
Describing what the “war” and threats to the nation look like, Mullin said, “It’s still terrorists, but the terrorists have joined with the cartels.”
“We’re seeing the Islamic terrorists joining with the Mexican cartels that are trying to use all the resources to come after us. And then, we’re seeing the drone attacks that are starting to take place,” he explained.
The DHS seal was intentionally created to mirror elements of the Great Seal of the United States upon its creation in 2003.
