Why do SEALs pin Tridents on caskets?
Emily Schmidt
Updated on April 25, 2026
The badges are the badges SEALs (aka: Special Warfare Insignia or SEAL Trident) earn when they graduate from SQT (SEAL Qualification Training) and become full fledged SEALs. To nail them into the coffin by hand is a complete sign of respect to a fallen comrade.
What was placed on Chris Kyle's casket?
Fellow Navy SEALs placed their tridents on Chris Kyle's casket during his funeral at Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas.What do Navy SEALs hammer into coffins?
It is a ritual that has been repeated at many funerals of Navy SEALs and dramatized in Hollywood movies: SEALs approach a gravesite one by one, remove the gold-colored pin from the left breast of their dress uniforms and pound them into the coffin of a fallen comrade.What happens if a SEAL loses his trident?
Removing a Trident does not entail a reduction in rank, but it effectively ends a SEAL's career. Since Chief Gallagher and Lieutenant Portier both planned to leave the Navy soon in any case, the step would have little practical effect on them.What does the SEAL Trident symbolize?
The Navy SEAL trident is the reflection and an extension of oneself to those who wears it – honour, courage and discipline.CHRIS KYLE FUNERAL TRIBUTE
Who can wear a SEAL Trident?
United States Navy Special Warfare SEAL Trident InsigniaCriteria: First created in the 1960s, the insignia recognizes those service members who have completed the Navy's Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, completed SEAL Qualification Training and have been designated as U.S. Navy SEALs.