Tribal insignias represent a long and cherished history of spiritual and cultural beliefs within American Indian and Alaska Native tribes (Native American). Our database aims to protect these cultural properties by helping us determine if trademarks in pending applications falsely suggest connections to the tribal insignia of Native American tribes.
The tribal insignia database is a component of the trademark database maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The benefits of the tribal insignia database
While Native American tribes are not legally required to submit their official tribal insignias to our database, we encourage you to participate in the database because of its protective benefit.
The benefit of including your official tribal insignia in the database is that it allows the USPTO to consider your tribal insignia during the examination of trademark applications. As part of the examination process, we determine whether trademarks falsely suggest a connection to the tribal insignias of participating Native American tribes. This gives you the benefit of helping to protect your intellectual property and cultural heritage.
Tribal insignia requirements
Your tribal insignia must be adopted by tribal resolution and consist of a flag, coat of arms, other emblem, or device. Your tribe must be recognized federally or by your state. A word or words alone are not considered a tribal insignia, and are not entered in the database.
How to submit a request to be included in the database
You don’t have to pay a fee or complete a form. Your tribe may submit more than one tribal insignia, and we invite you to do so. Please remember to submit only one per request to NativeAmericanTribalInsigniaSubmissions@uspto.gov with the subject line "Native American tribal insignia submission," and include the following attachments:
- A written request to enter the tribal insignia
- A JPG image file of the tribal insignia, which must be:
- 300-350 dpi
- 250-944 pixels in both directions
- RGB color
- A copy of tribal resolution adopting the tribal insignia as the official one
- A statement, signed by an official with authority to bind the tribe, confirming that the tribal insignia submitted is the one referred to in the resolution
If your tribe is recognized by a state government only, you must also provide one of the following:
- A document from a state official showing that the state recognizes the Native American tribe as a tribe, or
- A citation to a state statute designating the Native American entity as a tribe
OMB Control No. 0651-0048 (Exp. 07/31/2026)
A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, an information collection subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, unless the information collection has a valid OMB Control Number. The OMB Control Number for this information collection is 0651-0048. Public burden for this form is estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the information collection. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this information collection, including suggestions for reducing this burden to the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 or email InformationCollection@uspto.gov.
How your tribal insignia will be processed
We comply with every proper request to include tribal insignia in the database. We do not investigate whether the tribal insignia is the official tribal insignia of the tribe that made the submission.
Every proper request is assigned a serial number, known as a "non-registration number," and then entered into the database. You can use the number to look up your insignia in the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system, or in the trademark search system.
Once your submission is accepted, you will receive a letter confirming that your tribal insignia has been entered into the database.
Your tribe’s rights
Choosing to include your tribal insignia in the database does not grant any rights to the tribe that submitted the tribal insignia. Furthermore, entry is not the legal equivalent of registering the tribal insignia as a trademark.
You may be able to register a tribal insignia as a trademark if you’re using it or plan to use it in commerce. You’ll have to submit a trademark application and pay a fee, and we’ll examine your application to determine if it meets the legal requirements for trademark registration. See our Trademarks basics pages for more information.
How to access the tribal insignia database
To access the tribal insignia database in our trademark search system:
- Enter the following search term, including quotation marks and capitalization: nonRegistration:"Native American Tribal Insignia"
- Submit the query.
Trademark search system
Other ways to protect your tribal insignia
We are not a law enforcement agency and do not police the use of trademarks in commerce. If you have evidence that shows a trademark in a pending application or a federally registered trademark infringes on your tribal insignia, consider the options below.
Letter of Protest
You may use a letter of protest to give the USPTO evidence about the registrability of a trademark in a pending application. If a trademark in a pending application is likely to cause confusion or suggests a false connection, you can use this option to send us evidence. We’ll review your evidence and send it to the examining attorney for consideration if appropriate. You can file the letter prior to publication of the pending application and up to 30 days after publication.
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) notice of opposition
You may file a notice of opposition if you have evidence to show that your tribe will be damaged, including as a result of dilution by blurring or dilution by tarnishment, by the registration of a trademark on the Principal Register. File the notice within 30 days after the date of publication or within an extension period granted by the TTAB.
TTAB petition for cancellation
You may file a petition for cancellation if you have evidence to show that your tribe will be damaged, including as a result of a likelihood of confusion, of dilution by blurring, or dilution by tarnishment, by a federally registered trademark on the Principal Register. File the petition within five years after the date of the registration of the trademark.
Contact us
If you need more information or have general questions regarding the Native American tribal insignia database, please email us at Tribal.Insignia@uspto.gov. We are happy to assist you.
DISCLAIMER: References to particular trademarks, service marks, certification marks, products, services, companies, or organizations appearing on this page are for illustrative and educational purposes only and do not constitute or imply endorsement by the U.S. government, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or any other federal agency.
