page_title: 501st Infantry Regiment (United States)
section_title: The Black Diamonds
hierarchical_section_title: 501st Infantry Regiment (United States) / The Black Diamonds
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Army Spcs. Ryne Stubbs and James McManus provide security in a field during a patrol near Bahbahni, Iraq, on Dec. 6, 2006. Stubbs and McManus are both assigned as paratroopers to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment.
context_page_description: The 501st Airborne Infantry Regiment, previously the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment and later 501st Infantry Regiment, is an airborne forces regiment of the United States Army, with a long history, having served in World War II and the Vietnam War, both as part of the 101st Airborne Division, as well as the War in Afghanistan. It is the first airborne unit by designation in the United States Armed Forces. Its 1st Battalion is assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, located at Fort Richardson, Alaska. Its 2nd Battalion is assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
context_section_description: During World War II, the 101st Airborne Division undertook steps to identify paratroopers from each divisional element visually.  As a result, a suit from a deck of cards was painted on the helmets of the division's four infantry regiments.  The helmets of the members of 501st were therefore emblazoned with a white diamond and each respective battalion was indicated with a white tick mark. During the Vietnam War the Diamond as well as the Spade, Heart and Club were used on the helmet by units of the 101st Airborne Division but instead of white it was black and most of the time a black permanent marker was the only thing needed to apply it. Post Vietnam the tradition carried on through the late 1970s. The modern day members of the 501st resurrected the tradition in 2003 prior to deployment to Afghanistan with two black cloth patches sewn to each side of their helmet covers.  The tradition was carried over after the switch to the Army Combat Uniform as part of the Rapid Fielding Initiative in 2006 and again worn in Iraq.  The emblem has entered common usage among members of the current battalion outside of helmet insignia, appearing on unit clothing, challenge coins and other souvenirs.  A similar insignia has been recently appropriated for use by the current 101st Aviation Brigade to match that of other elements within the 101st Airborne Division which chose to use their original World War II regimental helmet markings.  Despite their use of the diamond patches, there is no historical connection between the use of the insignia in World War II and the 101st Aviation Brigade.  The brigade links their current use with the use of color-coded diamonds on UH-1s by the unit during Vietnam, when it carried the designation of 101st Aviation Battalion.  Although helmet markings are commonly worn by units throughout the Army, The Institute of Heraldry has confirmed they are not authorized by the Army's uniform regulations.
caption: The modern cloth diamonds of the 501st sewn to the Army Combat Uniform helmet cover, as seen in Iraq.  An additional patch is sewn to the opposing side out of view.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "061206-A-6553F-014 \n\n      U.S. Army Spcs. Ryne Stubbs and James McManus provide security in a field during a patrol near Bahbahni, Iraq, on Dec. 6, 2006.  Stubbs and McManus are both assigned as paratroopers to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment.  DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Sean A. Foley, U.S. Army.  (Released)", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D1H", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2006:12:14 18:02:43", "Image Artist": "SSG SEAN A. FOLEY", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "624", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1228", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1342", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6252", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:12:06 16:33:33", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:12:06 16:33:33", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Cloudy weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "35", "EXIF SubSecTime": "03", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "03", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "03", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1312", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "52", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}