5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, US Army

5TH AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY REGIMENT, US ARMY

Official blazon

Shield: Gules, a bend Or charged with six cannon paleways in pairs Sable, between in sinister chief a fishhook fessways, ring to dexter, barb to base, and in dexter base a Lorraine Cross, both of the second (Or).
Crest: On a wreath of the colors Or and Gules upon a cannon wheel Or partly surrounded by two palm branches Vert the wheel grasped by two hands Proper issuant chevronways from base, a bronze cannon paleways smoking of the last (Proper).
Motto: Volens et Potens (Willing and Able).

Origin/meaning

The shield is scarlet for Artillery, The fishhook, representative of the shape of the Federal battle lines, alludes to the Battle of Gettysburg. The cannon in pairs refers to the Battle of New Market, 1864. The Lorraine Cross denotes service in Lorraine, World War I. The crest represents the gallant service of Lieutenant Richard Metcalf's battery at Spotsylvania, 4-24 May 1864, when it charged earthworks firing its guns and then ran them up by hand to a new position, to the Bloody Angle and fired repeatedly. This is purported to be the only recorded instance in the Civil War of a battery charging on breastworks.

The coat of arms was originally approved for the 5th Coast Artillery on 3 October 1925. It was cancelled on 19 April 1960. The coat of arms was restored and authorized for the 5th Air Defense Artillery effective 1 September 1971.

Literature: Image from Wikimedia Commons.