New Britain herald., 1919-03-18
GLORIOUS History
in ARMY INSIGNIA
Divisional Marks Symbolic Elk.
pl0itS Of A. E. F.

tho American Expeditionary Force to
wear, and which the folks at home
have already observed or soon will
sec on the shoulders of the dough-
Boys from lover there.
Yellow reptiles, cabalistic letters.
mysterious designs, most of them in
bright colors, are becoming familiar
sights wherever the fighters from
France congregate. These devices
symbolic the exploits and eptomize
IN way the records of the divisions
OF which their proud Wearers were
members in the months Of bloody
battling against the Hun. They are
SO many trademarks of the bravery
and dash and victory Of the Ancri-
. can army in France.
To the man of the army-especial-
ly of the cXpeditionary force--there
is nothing Of mystery in these strange
markings They are cryptic only to
the unmilitary persons who remained
at homo in the less heroic atmos-
phere of civil life. Some of the in
sigma which have already been adopt
cd by the several divisions are the
following:
The. mineral ST. in crimson cloth
on a background of khaki has been
chosen by the First Division of the
regular army. Although one of the
simplest of the divisional devices, this
| is by no means the least significant.
| Its appropriateness becomes apparent
| in the briefest account of this organ
| ization's career in France. The figure
designates that it was the first Amer
| lean division in France, that it was
! the first to fire a shot at the Germans,
the first to attack, the first to inf1ict
and to sustain casualties, the first to
be cited in general orders, and the
first in the number of division corps
and army commanders, as we'll as
general staff officers, produced from
it's personnel. This division reached
France on June u. 1917, and in the
course of its operations captured s.,
304 prisoners.
Some Crack Guard Divisions.
A barred arrow of red is the in
sigma Of the Thirty second division,
comprising the National Guards of
Wisconsin and Michigan. It was Sc
lected because this organization shot
through every line the Germans
formed before them" The Thirty
third division, of which the National
Guard regiments of Chicago were
units typifes it's history in a yellow
Geneva cross on a. black circle which
makes a conbisation of the divisional
colors. It is said that yellow was
chosen because 1t was the only color
available when the division as
milling its equipment in Texas. The
Geneva, cross, long used to mark
property Of the governments, is reput-
ed 10 have mad a terrifying effect on
the natives of the Philippines.
Although known as the wildcat
| division.'' the Thirticth, composed
! largely of men from North and South
! Carolina and the mountains of Ten
| nesse. did not make that animal it's
| emblem. Instead, these fighters have
/ honored Andrew jackson and prefer
"Old Hickory as their designation.
| The letters 90" and "H'' in blue on
"A maroon background, with three Ks
to form the cross-bar of the III"
! constitute the device. The KS stand
| for so.
The Empire division, which in
! cIudes the National Guard of New
York, has for its device a, disk of
| black enclosed in q circle of crimson,
| with a monogram of the letters IN.
| Y" Around the monogram are seven
| crimson stars in the form of the
group of the brighter luminares of
the constellation Orion. The Twenty
sixth (New England) division be-
| came known overseas as the Yankee
division and has adopted the letters
"Y. D. in a blue monogram on a
| diamond Of khaki. The Twenty eighth
in which were merged the National
| C1uardsmen of Pennsylvania, has APP
| propriately selected a keystone in
red cloth as is insignia,
Other divisions and their EN- blems
| are:
The Second (of the regular army,
| an Indian head, with a background
of star and shield in various colors
| according to the divisional units.
The Forty-second, rainbow,
formed of concentric arcs of red,
white and blue on a khaki back
| ground,
The Eighteenth, the figures is in
white superimposed on green cactus
plant, under which is the legend,
"Noli me tangere" ("Don't touch
| me.'D
Thirty-first, .conventionalzed design
of the letter ID. D." in bright red.
Eighty-fourth, white disk sur
rounded by red circle on which is su
perimposed Lincoln s4'' in blue, with
axe head Of red and blue handle.
Fourteenth, shield panel OF green
upon which is set a disk of yellow
with black rim containing black
head of a wolverine
Eleventh, head Of Lafayette in
circle.
Twelfth (Plym outh>, figure "12" in
red on blue ground, pierced by bayo-
net, all in gold border.
Ninetieth (Alamo). conventional
lied TO- in red. The "O' in the
design is below the ct"
Several other divisions which won
distin ction and colloquial desisna-
tons in France have not yet reported
the adoption Of insignia.