11th Air Defense Brigade, US Army

11TH AIR DEFENSE BRIGADE, US ARMY

(Shoulder Sleeve Insignia)

(Distinctive Unit Insignia)

Official blazon

Shoulder Sleeve Insignia: Description: Upon a rectangular shield arched at top and bottom 2 inches in width and 3 inches in height overall, divided in half horizontally with scarlet above and yellow below within a 1/8 inch wide yellow border, two arrowheads placed vertically their points overlapping the centerline, the one above in yellow overlapped by the one below in scarlet.

Distinctive Unit Insignia: A gold color metal and enamel device 1 1/8 inches in height overall consisting of a six lobed red disk charged with a white enamel five-pointed star, with six gold rays radiating alternately between six white enamel trefoils on a blue background.

Origin/meaning

Shoulder Sleeve Insignia: Scarlet and yellow are the colors associated with Artillery. The mission of air defense is suggested by the yellow arrowhead, representing incoming aerial weaponry, and the red arrowhead coming from below to intercept. The combined silhouette of the two arrowheads simulates the Roman numeral for eleven, the unit’s numerical designation.

Distinctive Unit Insignia: Scarlet and yellow (gold) are the colors used for Air Defense Artillery. The color blue represents the upper atmosphere and the six lobed red disk simulates an exploding missile and refers to the basic mission of Air Defense. The white star, emblem of Texas, refers to the home area of the organization. The six trefoils and the five-pointed star allude to the numerical designation of the organization.

The Shoulder Sleeve Insignia was originally approved on 27 May 1980. The Distinctive Unit Insignia originally approved on 16 December 1980 [Sic]; redesignated on 4 April 1972 for the 11th Air Defense Artillery Group and then redesignated on 16 December 1980 for the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade.

Literature: Images from Wikimedia Commons. Information from The Insignia of Heraldry, US Army.