18 U.S.C. § 715
Section 715 · The Golden Eagle Insignia
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Neal v. Hunter (1949)
Most recently applied in Rothamel v. Fluvanna County (September 2011)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
As used in this section, “The Golden Eagle Insignia” means the words “The Golden Eagle” and the representation of an American Golden Eagle (colored gold) and a family group (colored midnight blue) enclosed within a circle (colored white with a midnight blue border) framed by a rounded triangle (colored gold with a midnight blue border) which was originated by the Department of the Interior as the official symbol for Federal recreation fee areas.
Whoever, except as authorized under rules and regulations issued by the Secretary of the Interior, knowingly manufactures, reproduces, or uses “The Golden Eagle Insignia”, or any facsimile thereof, in such a manner as is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
The use of any such emblem, sign, insignia, or words which was lawful on the date of enactment of this Act shall not be a violation of this section.
A violation of this section may be enjoined at the suit of the Attorney General, upon complaint by the Secretary of the Interior.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
The date of enactment of this Act, referred to in text, means the date of enactment of Pub. L. 92–347, which was approved July 11, 1972.
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $250” in second par.