Executive Order 13964: Rebranding United States Foreign Assistance To Advance American Influence
President: Donald J. Trump
Directed State and USAID to propose standardized markings that identify United States-funded foreign assistance and to report on implementation.
Status: Revoked. Is Executive Order 13964 still in effect? No. EO 14029, signed May 14, 2021, section 1, expressly revoked it. That ended this order’s single-logo framework, not the separate statutory requirement to identify covered aid as American aid. The Federal Register disposition entry and U.S. Code executive-document note both record the revocation.
What does Executive Order 13964 do?
EO 13964 Directed State and USAID to initiate rules for common marking of U.S. foreign assistance, including aid materials and packaging.
Later primary evidence reviewed September 24, 2026: EO 14029 expressly revoked this order. Official source. The cited steps do not establish every downstream effect.
The order’s policy rationale was that recognizable American aid would promote goodwill and U.S. influence. The operative change was more specific: State would lead a standard marking rulemaking, a presidentially selected logo would be used across covered assistance, and agencies outside existing marking regulations had direct 120-day instructions. Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief were within the stated scope, but the text preserved exemptions, written waivers and particular material exclusions. Sections 1–2.
A 120-day direction to begin notice-and-comment rulemaking was not a declaration that a final rule already existed. Nor was every recipient required to relabel every item immediately: the text distinguished agencies governed by regulations, agencies without such rules, final-regulation implementation, completed projects and written waivers. The signed order and its later revocation do not establish that a common-logo final rule, each internal guidance amendment or the 180-day implementation report was completed. Sections 2–3; EO 14029.
Before and after
Before the order
Aid agencies used their existing program-specific branding and marking requirements.
After the order
The order called for a proposed single-logo marking scheme; EO 14029 revoked it in May 2021. A final common-logo rule is not established here.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| President | Select the single logo for the contemplated standard marking system. | Section 2(b)(i): within 30 days of December 10, 2020; selection is an assignment, not proof a logo was actually selected. |
| Secretary of State | Lead notice-and-comment rulemaking to identify foreign assistance as American aid and propose necessary amendments to existing regulations, coordinating with USAID and other agency heads as appropriate. | Section 2(a): initiate rulemaking within 120 days of signing, not finalize every regulation within that period. |
| USAID Administrator | Coordinate with State on the marking regulations, relevant waiver determinations and implementation reporting. | Sections 2(a), 2(e), 3: the relevant 120-day initiation and 180-day/annual reporting schedules; no separate standalone report deadline for USAID. |
| Heads of other relevant agencies | Coordinate with State and USAID on rulemaking, applicable waiver decisions and the implementation report. | Sections 2(a), 2(e), 3: as appropriate to their foreign-assistance responsibilities; consultation is not a separate universal report. |
| Agencies subject to the contemplated standard marking regulations | Implement those regulations after finalization, subject to the text’s exemptions and lawful waivers. | Section 2(a): as soon as possible after regulations are finalized; finalization is the trigger. |
| Agencies without existing foreign-assistance marking regulations | Use the single logo on covered goods/materials/packaging, revise inconsistent procedures and stop using their separate agency logos where the single logo is required, unless law requires otherwise. | Sections 2(c)–(d): within 120 days of signing; new obligations after signing covered to the maximum extent practicable. Joint-donor arrangements could be co-marked. |
| State Secretary and authorized waiver delegates | Make written determinations for compelling political, safety or security concerns, or where the logo would undermine aid objectives; coordinate with USAID and relevant agencies. | Section 2(e): no numerical decision deadline. State delegation could not go below Under Secretary; USAID redelegation to its Deputy Administrator required the Secretary’s authorization. |
| State Secretary, with USAID and other relevant agency heads; National Security Advisor as transmission route | Submit the implementation report to the President through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. | Section 3: within 180 days of signing and annually thereafter. This was the EO’s implementation report, not the separate statutory OIG audit. |
These are historical assignments under the December 2020 text. The order was revoked on May 14, 2021. It did not require rebranding already completed overseas projects or products. Its single-logo requirement also excluded purely administrative, non-deliverable contractor/recipient items and specified corporate or non-project agency materials. Statutory or regulatory exemptions remained relevant. Sections 2(b)(ii), 2(e); EO 14029, section 1.
What happened next
Executive Order 13964 signed.
The Federal Register published the December 10 order. Its 30/120/180-day clocks used signing, not publication. Official source.
The USAID Branding Modernization Act was enacted, supplying separate logo/marking authority and an OIG audit requirement. It was not EO 13964’s implementation report. Official source.
EO 14029 section 1 expressly revoked EO 13964. Section 2 separately directed consideration of lawful rescission of implementing measures. Official source.
The Federal Register published EO 14029, five days after its signing. Official source.
USAID OIG issued audit 9-000-21-008-P on statutory branding/marking compliance, identifying waiver and monitoring weaknesses in the sampled system. It was not proof of every single-logo milestone. Official source.
EO 14148 revoked EO 14029, without expressly reinstating EO 13964’s original timetable. The disposition entry still records EO 13964’s revocation. Official source.
Later primary evidence reviewed: EO 14029 expressly revoked this order.
Legal and source detail
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
- EO 14029 — revoked by (opens in a new tab) Order text
- Federal Register — EO 14029 express revocation, May 14, 2021
- U.S. Code — 22 U.S.C. 2401 and separate USAID Branding Modernization Act
- USAID OIG — July 23, 2021 branding audit, 9-000-21-008-P
- USAID OIG — recommendation closure record
- Federal Register — 2020 disposition entry for EO 13964
- White House — EO 14148, January 20, 2025
The underlying law was not created by EO 13964. Section 641 of the Foreign Assistance Act, 22 U.S.C. 2401, required appropriate overseas identification as American aid. The USAID Branding Modernization Act, enacted January 13, 2021, separately authorized USAID, coordinating with State as appropriate and considering partner/beneficiary safety, to prescribe USAID insignia or additional/substitute markings, including the U.S. flag. It also required a USAID Inspector General audit within one year of enactment. That congressional audit was distinct from EO 13964’s State-led implementation report to the President.
The July 23, 2021 OIG audit examined USAID’s branding system and sampled awards, not fulfillment of every EO 13964 assignment. It found weaknesses in waiver documentation, filing and assignment of monitoring responsibility. The detailed report says 241 of 251 sampled products conformed to marking requirements: 230 were marked and 11 were excepted. The judgmental sample did not establish agency-wide compliance, and those figures should not be presented as a success rate for the revoked single-logo order. See the report’s summary, background and sampled-product discussion.
The OIG recommendation record later lists October 17, 2022 closure dates for its first two recommendations and March 29, 2023 for the third. Those are audit-recommendation outcomes, not evidence that EO 13964 was reinstated. Likewise, EO 14148, January 20, 2025, revoked EO 14029 but did not expressly reinstate this order’s original single-logo timetable. The existing EO 14029 guide explains the intervening revocation; the disposition entry continues to list EO 13964 as revoked.
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on September 24, 2026. How we research →