page_title: 42nd Infantry Division (United States)
section_title: Rainbow unit insignia
hierarchical_section_title: 42nd Infantry Division (United States) / Rainbow unit insignia
caption_attribution_description: English: Original design of 42nd Infantry Division "Rainbow" patch, showing half arc. The patch was later modified to a quarter arc.
context_page_description: The 42nd Infantry Division is a division of the United States Army National Guard. The 42nd Infantry Division has served in World War I, World War II and the Global War on Terrorism. The division is currently headquartered at the Glenmore Road Armory in Troy, New York.
  The division headquarters is a unit of the New York Army National Guard. The division currently includes Army National Guard units from fourteen different states, including Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. As of 2007, 67 percent of 42ID soldiers are located in New York and New Jersey.
context_section_description: The 42nd Division adopted a shoulder patch and distinctive unit insignia acknowledging the nickname. The original version of the patch symbolized a half arc rainbow and contained thin bands in multiple colors. During the latter part of World War I and post war occupation duty in Germany, Rainbow Division soldiers modified the patch to a quarter arc, removing half the symbol to memorialize the half of the division's soldiers who had been killed or wounded during the war. They also reduced the number of colors to just red, gold and blue bordered in green, in order to standardize the design and make the patch easier to reproduce.
  Description: The 4th quadrant of a rainbow with three bands of color: red, gold and blue, each 3/8-inch (.95 cm) in width, outer radius 2 inches (5.08 cm); all within a 1/8-inch (.32 cm) Army green border.
  Background: The shoulder sleeve insignia was originally authorized by telegram on 29 Oct 1918. It was officially authorized for wear on 27 May 1922. It was reauthorized for wear when the division was reactivated for World War II. On 8 September 1947, it was authorized for the post-World War II 42nd Infantry Division when it was reactivated as a National Guard unit.
caption: Original design of 42nd Infantry Division "Rainbow" patch, showing half arc. The patch was later modified to a quarter arc.
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