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The colours Maroon, Silver and Blue represents the Medical departments of the Army, Air Force and Navy. The stars represents the higher caliber of the personel selected from the three services, the foruth star denots personel from any future participating organization. The wings and snake taken from both the Rod of Aesculapius and the Caduceus are used as medical symbols (acctualy the Caduceus is the symbol of Commerce and is the Symbol of the Greek God Hermes, herald of the Gods and protector of merchants and thieves). The Torch denotes the education undertaken. The Globe symbolizes the capabiblity to utilize the existing worldwide medical resources of the three services.
The Motto not shown here is "Doctrina Investigatio Cura" = "Teaching Research Care".
The Design was approved 24 May 1984. Information is taken from the book "U.S. Army Heraldic Crests" by Barry Jason Stein et al. Picture is from the Wikimedia.
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U.S. Army element of the Defense Information School.
"Symbolism: The colors for the crest were drawn from those of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania where the school was located at Carlisle Barracks until 1951. The disk is symbolic of the world, the color blue representing truth. The rays extending to the upper left and lower right are emblematic of the truth that can be spread over the world. The lamp at the apex is a symbol of knowledge and learning.
Background: The device was originally approved for the Armed Forces Information School on 3 Jan 1951. It was redesignated for the Army Information School and amended to change the wording on the scroll on 25 Jan 1955. On 1 Jul 1964 the device was reassigned to the Defense Information School and amended to change the wording in the scroll."
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DUI of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center.
"Symbolism: The hat, worn by the first soldiers of the Presidio of Monterey, where the Army Language School was founded, alludes to the military aspect of the school. The Rosetta Stone, key to our knowledge of the language of ancient times, symbolizes the study of language as the key of understanding. It is inscribed with the word "Ptolemy" in Egyptian hieroglyphics, in Hieratic or script, and in Greek. The olive branch stands for the peace attained through understanding.
Background: The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the Army Language School, Presidio of Monterey, California on 24 Oct 1956. It was reassigned on 1 Jul 1963 for wear by only the Army elements of Defense Language Institute. On 30 Apr 1999 the insignia was redesignated for wear by only the Army elements of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center."
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The SSI of the above mentioned unit.
"Symbolism: Red, white and blue are our National Colors. The Rosetta Stone symbolizes the Defense Language Foreign Language Center’s mission and is combined with the griffin’s head to underscore the vital role of language and intelligence in total military preparedness.
Background: The shoulder sleeve insignia was approved on 30 Apr 1999."
Thanks for posting the Defense Language Institute’s arms/badge/whatever. We wore that insignia at the DLI facility at Biggs Field, Ft Bliss, near El Paso Texas in the late 1960’s—only the Army would send us to West Texas, just north of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, for eight months, to learn Vietnamese…
But of course. It’s the same logic by which the Air Force sent my dad to Washington, DC, to learn Spanish just before stationing him in Germany.
Well Michael and Joseph that’s the twists of Life.
I’m just chilling here at Ft. Bragg and I noticed the school I fall under has gray on it. Thinking it odd I looked through the forums but didn’t see much until I found this thread. Anyways, the JFK SWC&S here at Ft. Bragg is described by TIOH as:
"Black, white and gray of the background are symbolic of the three different phases of activity. The black also refers to the subversive nature of Special Operations. The torch is the classic symbol of light, learning, liberty and truth. The Trojan horse is universally recognized as a symbol of subversive activity. A horse also represents the Knight in chess, the only piece capable of moving indirectly and of striking from and within the enemy territory."
It’s blazoned as:
Shield:
Per fess Sable and the base per pale Argent and Gray, a torch Or.
Crest:
On a wreath of the colors (Argent and Sable) the head of the Trojan horse Or.
Motto:
VERITAS ET LIBERTAS (Truth and Freedom).
I never wore the Distinctive Unit Insignia, but I wore the patch for about a year when I was going through training. We called it the "Tea Kettle."
