The lineage of the 69th Infantry Brigade goes back to World War I, but it wasn’t until April 1963 that it was designated as the 69th Infantry Brigade through the redesignation of the Kansas component of the 35th Infantry Division. The 69th Infantry Brigade unit patch, or Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, was not approved for wear until 7 December 1964, and twenty years later it would be rendered obsolete when the Brigade was redesignated as the 35th Infantry Division (Mechanized).
Two of the most famed images from the unit’s home state of Kansas are found on the 69th Infantry Brigade unit patch: a sunflower (state flower) and a blue funnel cloud of a twister. With the sunflower seeming guiding the tornado from above, the graphic represents the Brigade and its ability to strike with the speed and swiftness of a Kansas twister. Indeed, the Brigade was nicknamed “Tornado Brigade” for a good deal of its 20-year existence.
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