The US Naval Construction Battalions received the nickname “Seabees”, because that was how the initials “C.B.” sounded.
The original Seabees logo was created in spring 1942, shortly after the Construction Battalion was officially named Seabees. The emblem, nicknamed the Fighting Bee, was developed by a Rhode Islander Frank Iafrate at Davisville.
As Frank Iafrate recalls, originally he was going to put a beaver on the emblem, as beavers were often called the best builders in the animal kingdom. However, as soon as he discovered that beavers ran away when threatened, he opted for a bee. This symbol was one of the reasons why the name “Seabees” has not disappeared in the course of time. The Seabees symbol has not stayed the same over the years, yet its core visual metaphor remained consistent.
The lesser-known symbol features a shirtless worker with a sledge hammer. Below, there is the text “Construmius Batuimus USN.”
The Seabees logo features a stencil all-cap typeface for the word “Seabees”, while the motto “Can do” is given in a plainer serif type.
The emblem combines various shades of blue with the gold, black, red, grey, and white colors.