Category:23rd Infantry Regiment heraldry

Coat of Arms[edit]

Blazon[edit]

• Shield: Party per chevron wavy Azure and Argent in dexter chief a cross pattée of the second in sinister chief a sea lion with sword in dexter paw of the like langued Gules in base a northern hemisphere with a transport in each ocean both sailing from east to west, all Proper.

• Crest: On a wreath of the colors Argent and Azure a fleur-de-lis in front of two crossed arrows of the first surmounted palewise by a sword-breaker with seven barbs Sable charged at the hilt with a taeguk Proper all in front of and within an open laurel wreath Vert.
• Motto: WE SERVE.

Symbolism[edit]

• Shield:

1. The shield is blue and white, the present and old Infantry colors.
2. Civil War service is indicated by the white cross of the V Corps, and Philippine Insurrection service by the sea lion taken from the seal of Manila.
3. The Mont Blanc operation of October 1918 in World War I is commemorated by the outline of the lower half of the shield.
4. The 23rd Infantry has the unique distinction of being the first American regiment to circumnavigate the globe and this accomplishment is indicated in the base of the shield.

• Crest:

1. The seven barbs of the sword-breaker (a medieval close combat weapon) and the red and blue taeguk upon its hilt are symbolic of the seven Presidential Unit Citations awarded to the unit in Europe during World War II and in the Korean War.
2. The fleur-de-lis refers to the four awards of the French Croix de Guerre during World War I, three with palm, which are symbolized by the encircling laurel wreath.
3. The arrows allude to participation in the Indian Wars.

• Motto: Self Explanatory.

Background[edit]

1. The coat of arms was originally approved on 1922-05-04.
2. The original crest was cancelled and a new crest approved with symbolism revised on 1980-03-28.

1. In 2017, responding to the deterioration in clarity of the drawn arms for the 23rd US Infantry Regiment over the years, the change of crest and with the re-emphasis on the ‘regimental family’ as well as the rise in do-it-yourself designing for off-duty and sportswear by units and veterans, the Regiment was gifted with digital re-drawings of the arms. Six variations are shown below. They are freely available for reproduction by active duty and retired members of the Regiment and regimental/battalion/division associations as well as accoutrement suppliers.

1. Versions (with or without tomahawks) available include:

• The full rendition of the arms with the crest floating above the shield with tomahawks.
• The full rendition of the arms with the crest floating above the shield without tomahawks.
• The shield alone with motto and tomahawks.
• The shield alone with motto.
• The shield alone.
• The crest alone.

Using the tomahawks

The use of the tomahawks has been identified with the regiment for well over half a century although they are not included in the official blazon (Distinctive Unit Insignia or DUI). They are, however, widely used in saltire behind the shield. In the redrawing of the arms with tomahawks, the description would be:

...the escutcheon surmounting two steel-headed tomahawks in Saltire dependent from the hardwood hafts below the heads thereof three leathern cords each threaded with three beads palewise Gules, Argent and Azure above a bald eagle’s wing feathers all Proper.

As for the tomahawks themselves, the head of a tomahawk can be stone or iron/steel. In this case, ‘steel-headed’ is used, realistically bound to the wooden haft with leather cords. The red, white and blue beads allude to the national colors and the ethos of the American soldier, palewise is there for emphasis as tinctures are always described from dexter chief downwards, so the red one must be at the top, followed by the white and nethermost the blue.

Reproducing the re-drawn arms

Each representation in the newly drawn style in Wikimedia Commons is in .png with transparent backgrounds or .jpeg in two versions to provide for a wide variety of applications from signage to embroidery. They have limited scalability, but within their range the images are of lossless quality.

Distinctive Unit Insignia[edit]

Description[edit]

1. A silver color metal and enamel device 1 3/16 inches (3.02 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Parti per chevron wavy Azure and Argent in dexter chief a cross patée of the second in sinister chief a sea lion with sword in dexter paw of the like langued Gules in base a northern hemisphere with a transport in each ocean both sailing from east to west, all Proper.
2. Attached below the shield a silver scroll inscribed "WE SERVE" in Blue letters.

Symbolism[edit]

1. The shield is blue and white, the colors of Infantry.
2. The Civil War service is indicated by the white cross of the 5th Corps and the early Philippine service by the sea lion taken from the seal of Manila.
3. The Mont Blanc Campaign of October 1918 in World War I is commemorated by the outline of the lower half of the shield.
4. The Regiment has the unique distinction of being the first American regiment to circumnavigate the globe and this is indicated in the base of the shield.

Background[edit]

1. The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved on 1924-10-29.
2. It was amended on 1968-08-06 to add the motto.
3. It was amended to update the description and symbolism on 2009-06-12.

Flag[edit]

Description[edit]

• Size:

1. Hoist: Three Feet.
2. Fly: Four Feet.

• Organizational colors:

1. Background: National flag blue
2. Fringe: Yellow.
3. Letters and Numbers: National Flag Blue
4. Scrolls: Yellow

• Arms:

1. The flag has a solid background with an embroidered American eagle displayed centered thereon, in Proper Colors.
2. In its right talon the eagle holds an olive branch; in its left talon, a bundle of 13 arrows, all in proper colors.
3. Its beak grasps a scroll inscribed with the unit motto.
4. Below the eagle is a scroll inscribed with the designation of the organization.
5. On the eagle’s breast is embroidered the shield of the coat of arms and the crest is above the eagle’s head.