Unlike its Combat Service Identification Badge (CSIB), the Distinctive Unit Insignia (familiarly called a unit crest or DUI) of the 3rd Infantry Division is highly stylized. A mythical creature perched atop a rock resting upon the unit motto tells the story of the unit’s first major combat and how its nickname was earned. The rock symbolizes the stand the division made against the German offensive during the Second Battle of the Marne during World War I—hence the nickname “Rock of the Marne” and subsequently “Marne Division.”
It also recalls the famous remark of the Division's General when he saw Allied units retreating: "We're staying here," or, as he said it in French, "Nous resterons la"—which almost immediately became the unit's motto. The wyvern (a winged dragon with two rather than four legs) is a heraldic representation of a devil, a nod to the fact that the Germans referred to the division’s soldiers as “Blue and White Devils” during the ferocious fighting at Anzio in World War II.
Related Items
3rd Infantry Division Patch (SSI)
3rd Infantry Division Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)