About

Per chevron Azure and Or, three chevronelles Sable, between seven aerial bombs palewise in chevron in chief and issuant from base a trident couped at the shaft forks upward of the second, surmounted by a shamrock counterchanged, fimbriated and barbed of the third.

On a wreath of the colors Or and Azure, an anchor as the Navy Medal of Honor surmounted by a winged bomb, charged with a mullet in the form of the Navy Medal of Honor all of the first, winged Celeste semé of four mullets Argent surrounded by a wreath of 50-caliber bullets interspaced with six larger bullets of the first and twelve shamrocks Vert, intertwined throughout.

Behind the shield on the dexter side, a Navy officer’s sword and on the sinister side, a Navy enlisted cutlass in saltire Proper, points downward.

SYMBOLISM

Dark blue and gold are the colors of the United States Navy. The shield’s elements are counterchanged to keep them dominant. The seven aerial bombs represent the date of the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941). The three black chevronelles allude to John Finn’s Navy Chief Petty Officer rank, and the color black recalls that he was the last living Medal of Honor recipient from the Pearl Harbor attack. The trident represents naval authority, and the three spikes stand for the ship’s multi-mission capability. The blue barbed shamrock against the yellow field represents John Finn’s naval career and his lineage as a tough American-Irishman who embodied the motto, “Status Et Pugno” (Stand Fast and Fight).

The anchor, the color and stars on the winged bomb, and the superimposed star on the bomb are elements representing the Navy Medal of Honor. (As a Chief Petty Officer, John Finn received this award at the start of WWII.) The winged bomb symbolizes John Finn’s rating of chief aviation ordnance man stationed at Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay. The 50-caliber rounds recall his manning a machine gun from an exposed position throughout the attack on 7 December 1941. The winged bomb also represents that DDG 113 is the first ship built with the Aegis Baseline 9 Weapon System that allows simultaneous air warfare and ballistic missile defense capability. The twelve shamrocks recall CPO Finn’s Irish heritage and the numerous times he was hit by enemy fire.

The crossed Navy officer’s sword and Navy cutlass reflect the fact that John Finn was both an enlisted sailor and an officer in the Navy, and they also represent the teamwork and cooperation of the officer-enlisted crew of DDG 113.

The coat of arms as blazoned in full color on a white oblong disc within a dark blue designation band, edged with a gold rope border and bearing the name “USS JOHN FINN” at the top and “DDG 113” at the base.