Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-09-25
No Wonder Germany Quit
by MAJOR FRANK @. MAHIN
OF the Army Recruiting Station

Most people seem to think that
the left shoulders of our returned
oversees men are something new"
LAS a matter of fact the particular
patterns used are new, but the idea
is so old that it goes back before the
days of history. In the days of the
barbarians the men. from a certain
village. clan, or district would each
wear the tail of a raccoon, a boar's
tusk, or some similar device that
marked them as belonging to a par
ticular group. In the days of the
early Egyptians the men of a corps
each wore the sign of Isis, Osiris, or
some other God. Each Roman le-
gionary wore geometrical device
of the same design as the standard
borne by the legion's standard bear
er. The standard of the legion cor
responded TO present day flag.
During the middle ages, as heraldry
came into being each family or lead
er adopted some sort of device
which his followers wore. For many
centuries these devices depended
leader, but about the time of the
second crusade in 1147, an agree
ment was reached that each family
of noble birth would adopt fam
ily crest or coat-of arms. Before
these crests could be used they must
be approved by the feudal sovereign
and entered in the records of the
School of Heralds. Thus all mem
bers of q noble family and their re-
tainers were authorized to wear q
certain insignia and as there were
thousands of these approved IN the
course of centuries 1t became u
matter for profound STUDY ana IN
terest to trace out and coordinate
tha haraldic devices. AS modern
armies came into existence IN the
In tier part of the seventeenth cen
tury troops were organized UNI
fornlv into brigades and squadrons
on ch of whom was named Tor ols
trict or q member of the Royal ram
ilv On the collar or sleeve each
man would wear the crest or colors
of the person or district for whlcn
his brigade or squadron was named
To this day in the English army that
apDroXinrate condition is carried out'
Organizatio tons are known not as tne
10th Infantry, but as the Argyle
Highlanders, the Dublin fuslieers'
tho Coldstream Guards, or what not,
still, wearing the insignia adopted
centuries ago. Our early American
units were distinguished by piping
of n particular color on the seams
of their uniforms and by patches
of the same color on their cuffs ana
collars. Then in the Regular Army
they added about the time OF tne
War of 1912 the numerals OF the
, regiment and permanently assigned
certain colors as the distinctive col
or of each branch. For example, the
infantry was and is blue, the caValry
| yellow, the artillery red. since tnen
the maroon has been added 1or the
m edical corps, buf for quartefnas-
ter corps, green for air service, pur-
nlo for motor transport, etc. In
our Civil War special marks were
adopted for each corps and division
and these were worn on hats and
cans. In this war each DIVISION
commander submitted drawing
for his divisional insignia TO the
War Department, which, upon ber
| jnr approved became the ofhclal
rlark for all officers and men OF
that division. The reason Tor these
markings is that it is plwityS lnter-
est;u. and frequently or vital IN
| pOrtu0Ce TO KNOW WlLHou" ""N-N ~
stop and ask to what organizalioL,
non relong For instance man
| becomes separate from his or
yanization and meets another sol
dier. He asks have you seen the
2Sth Division Sure, I saw bunch
of Red Keystones in woods about
two miles up this road In France
! the military police controlling traf-
fic at n crossroad would simply
glance at the shoulder insignia OF
approaching troops and point risht
left- or straight ahead as ms oroers
ro,mi,cd some of the insignia have
o,speciIl significance such rs big
red ~, for the First, keystone
for the Pennsylvania Division,
"YD" yankee Division) for the
New Englanders. u Statue of Lib.
erty'' for the 77th of New YORK
city, while others were chosen arbi'