The 202nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI), or unit crest, was originally approved for the 202nd Coast Artillery on 31 October 1925. It was redesignated for the 768th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion on 31 July 1951, then for the 768th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion on 19 February 1957. In January 1961, it was redesignated for the 202nd Artillery Regiment, and on 6 July 1972 it was redesignated for the 202nd Air Defense Artillery regiment.
A blue shield is used to denote the origins of the Regiment in the Infantry branch as the 6th Infantry in the Illinois National Guard on 1 October 1920. Three piles yellow piles that come together at a point near the base suggest the appearance of Artillery searchlights, and the winged projectile is colored scarlet for the Artillery branch; wings signify the Antiaircraft aspect of the Artillery organization. ARTE ET ARMIS, the Regimental motto, is Latin for “By Skill And Arms.”
A unit designated as the 202nd Air Defense Artillery was first organized in the Illinois National Guard in 1972 when it was created through the redesignation of the 202nd Artillery, a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimental System, but if the Regiment were the hub of a wheel, the various units included in its lineage would look like spokes and extend all the way back to 1897. Because of this, the Regiment was credited with taking part in three campaigns during World War I and eight in World War II, as well as receiving two French Croix de Guerre with Palm, a French Fourragere, and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. [Note: These battle honors and decorations are credited to the entire regiment, some component units also earned individual awards and credits.)
On 1 September 2006, the Regiment was converted, reorganized, and redesignated as the 106th Cavalry Regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System consisting of the 2nd Squadron, an element of the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat. The 106th retained its existing unit crest, but did inherit campaign credits and decorations earned by the 202nd and the units in its lineage.