The 121st Infantry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia, also called a DUI or unit crest, might be the only example of an insignia whose design was inspired by a song. After “"Put on Your Old Gray Bonnets” was adopted by the Regiment as its official air in 1928, the unit not only was given the Special Designation as the “Old Gray Bonnet” regiment, but also designed its unit crest upon the image, to wit, “A Gold metal and enamel device 1 1/16 inches in width overall consisting of an ‘Old Gray Bonnet’ Proper.” The insignia is also one of only a few that is worn in pairs with the orientation based upon which shoulder loop it is placed.
Originally approved for the 121st Infantry Regiment, Georgia National Guard, on 27 June 1928, it was redesignated for the 162nd Tank Battalion, Georgia NG on 24 May 1956. It was redesignated again for the 121st Infantry, Georgia NG on 17 April 1961 and amended to update the description and add a symbolism on 6 September 2016.
Distinctive Unit Insignias are worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1, Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e), "Beret" and "Garrison Cap," respectively.
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The 121st Infantry Regiment’s earliest predecessor was the Independent Volunteer Battalion of Macon, organized in 1860 and mustered into Confederate service in April 1961 as the 2nd Battalion, Georgia Infantry. The Battalion would fight in five Civil War campaigns before surrendering at Appomattox, Virginia in 1865.
Mustered into Federal service for a brief period in 1898, the unit would not see combat until it was mustered again in July 1916 as the 2nd Regiment of Infantry and drafted into Federal service in August 1917; it was consolidated with other units and redesignated as the 121st Infantry. Assigned to the 31st Division, which was designated as a source of replacement Soldiers for front-line units, the Regiment was awarded an uninscribed World War I streamer. In World War II, the Regiment was assigned to the 8th Infantry Division and fought in five campaigns in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater, earning a Presidential Unit Citation and Luxembourg Croix de Guerre; its HQ and HQ Company, 2nd Battalion was individually awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation, a French Croix de Guerre with Palm, and a Belgian Fourragere for receiving two citations in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army.
After several redesignations including a Regimental breakup in 1955, the Regiment was “reassembled” in the form of the 121st Infantry, a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), in 1959. It would undergo reorganizations throughout the 1960s and 1970s based up its total number of battalions to units they were assigned, and in 1989 was withdrawn from CARS and reorganized under the U.S. Army Regimental System. It was redesignated as the 121st Infantry Regiment in 2005, and from that time forward has consisted at a minimum of two battalions, its 1st and 2nd. For its service between 2009 and 2010, the Regiment was credited with another Meritorious Unit Commendation awarded HHC, 2nd Battalion.
As of Summer 2023, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 121st Infantry Regiment are both a part of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Georgia Army National Guard.