17th Infantry Regiment, US Army

17TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, US ARMY

(Coat of Arms)

(Distinctive Unit Insignia)

Official blazon

Shield: Azure, a wall embattled Argent, maconné de Sable, between in chief a cross patée and a five-bastioned fort voided, and in base a buffalo statant of the second.
Crest: On a wreath of the colors, Argent and Azure, a sea lion erect Or armed and langued Gules grasping in its dexter claw two arrows Sable, armed and flighted Gules.
Motto: TRUTH AND COURAGE.

Origin/meaning

The shield is blue for Infantry. Service in the Civil War is shown by the white cross patée, the badge if the 5th Army Corps in the Army of the Potomac, and by the stone wall which symbolizes the famous stone wall at Fredericksburg.
The five-bastioned fort was the badge of the 5th Army Corps in Cuba. The buffalo represents service in Korea; It was adopted as a symbol of the unit while it served there.
The crest is the white maltese cross of the V Corps in the Civil War and represents the desperate fighting in the Wheatfield and Devil's Den at Gettysburg where the regiment
lost approximately 50% of its effective strength. The sea lion is taken from the Spanish arms of Manila, and the arrows represent Indian campaigns.

The coat of arms was originally approved on 15 March 1921. It was amended by the addition of the buffalo for Korean service on 5 May 1952. It was amended on 1 May 1990 to revise the blazon and symbolism of the design. Literature: Image and Information from Wikimedia Commons.