Classification and Access Markings

CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED//DETR ARCHIVE//REL TO CLASS-D

Every controlled document in the Department carries a banner in three parts.

<TIER> // <SAR CODEWORD> // <COMMAND CHANNEL>

Example: TOP SECRET // SAR-GREEN DOVE // DIRCOM-SC

Tiers

TOP SECRET · SECRET · CLASSIFIED · RESTRICTED · CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED · UNCLASSIFIED

Special Access Required codewords

Departmental SAR nicknames are drawn without exception from birds. All Departmental material additionally carries the HCS-P control system marking and, in almost every case, the NOFORN dissemination control.

Codeword	Typical tier	Compartment
SAR-WHITE DOVE	Top Secret	Office of the Director-General. Founding instruments and directorate-level record.
SAR-GREEN DOVE	Top Secret	Class-A material. The Apple, Operation LAST LIGHT, The Beast.
SAR-RED DOVE	Secret	Class-B material. DISC internal security.
SAR-WHITE LINNET	Secret	DRA regulatory channel.
SAR-PINK FINCH	Secret	OTA analysis. Tone-0V.
SAR-GREY DOVE	Secret	Ecclesiastical liaison. The Holy See.

Tier and compartment vary independently. A SAR-PINK FINCH document may be held at Top Secret where the material warrants it.

Command channels

Channel	Body
HICOM-ODG	Office of the Director-General
DIRCOM-SC	Security Council
DIRCOM	Directorate Command
STRATCOM	Strategic Command
STRATCOM-FSC	U.S. Federal Special Court

Dating a document by its banner

The SAR system was instituted in 1965 with the raising of the Special Projects Staff, and survived the 1983 spin-off unchanged.

Material dated before 1965 carries inherited Agency, NATO and Soviet markings: TOP SECRET / NOFORN, MK-NAOMI, EYES ONLY, GATEBLACK, СОВЕРШЕННО СЕКРЕТНО.

Soviet material never carries SAR. GRU Division P files under 043 / BLACK MIRROR.

A reader who learns the banner can date a page without reading it.