12th Coast Artillery (United States)
The 12th Coast Artillery Regiment was a Coast Artillery regiment in the United States Army, constituted in the Regular Army on 27 February 1924. It served in the Harbor Defenses of the Chesapeake with headquarters at Fort Monroe, Virginia from 1924 to 1932. At that point the regiment effectively became the 2nd Coast Artillery; on paper the 2nd Coast Artillery was transferred from the Harbor Defenses of Cristobal in the Panama Canal Zone and the 12th was transferred (less personnel and equipment) to that harbor defense. However, the 12th was never activated again, and on  19 June 1944 was disbanded. Lineage. Constituted in the Regular Army on 27 February 1924 as 12th Coast Artillery (Harbor Defense) (HD), and organized 1 July 1924 at Fort Monroe by redesignating the following companies of the Coast Artillery Corps (CAC): 112th, 58th, 139th, 158th, 164th, 103rd, 166th, and 169th. A gold griffin statant wing wings elevated and addorsed within a red ring bearing the motto "IMPIGER ET ANIMOSUS" in gold. Due to the lack of artwork, tools, drawings and having no sample, we are unable to determine the exact design of the insignia. The griffin is a fictitious heraldic  animal noted for watchfulness and strength, half eagle and half lion, and emphasizes the motto which translates to "Alert and Courageous." The distinctive unit insignia was approved on 10 November 1924. It was rescinded on 14 March 1975.