The 1101st Signal Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, often called a unit patch, was approved on 27 December 1988. In the color version of the insignia, an upright black knife—referred as the “dagger of defense” by several sources—is centered in the middle of the patch and supported by a saltire (x shape) formed by the crossed lightning bolts, which symbolize both modern electronical communications equipment and the speed at which they facilitate communications. Blue, horizontally oriented arrows pointing to the interior of the insignia represent the flow of information to its proper recipients, and the black of the dagger and the white background stand for the night-and-day operations the Brigade performed.
Very little information is available on the lineage or service history of the 1101st Service Brigade. According to Barry Jason Stein’s massive reference book U.S. Army Patches, Flashes and Ovals: An Encyclopedia of Cloth Unit Insignia, the insignia ceased to be worn after 1992; whether this was due to unit inactivation or the adoption of a new insignia is not made clear. While active, the Brigade was based at Fort Myer, Virginia, along with the 3rd U.S. Infantry, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, and the 501st Military Police Company. Its motto was "Vital To The Nation."