Also known as a unit crest or DUI, the Distinctive Unit Insignia is 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. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
The 73rd Cavalry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia was originally approved for the 756th Tank Battalion, Light on 15 May 1942. It was subsequently redesignated for the 756th Tank Battalion (November 1943), 73rd Tank Battalion (October 1953), 73rd Armor (March 1963), and the 73rd Cavalry (February 2004). It features a green fist clenching a green lightning bolt symbolizes the striking power of Armor; green was the unofficial color of Armored units at the time. The three colors used for Armor Shoulder Sleeve Insignias are incorporated in the shield. “Honor Fidelity Courage,” the unit motto, denotes attributes highly valued by Soldiers regardless of branch affiliation.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."
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The 73rd Cavalry Regiment was originally constituted in the Regular Army as the 76th Tank Battalion on 13 January 1941 and was then redesignated the 756th Tank Battalion on 8 May 1941. During World War II, it would fight in seven campaigns and earn a Presidential Unit Citation and a French Croix de Guerre with Palm for its exceptional courage.
It would undergo several redesignations before being named 73rd Tank Battalion on 14 July 1950; it was under this designation that it would go on to fight in ten Korean War campaigns and be awarded three Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citations. It was assigned to the 7th Infantry Division while in Korea, but relieved from that assignment when it was inactivated in 1957. In October 1962, it was redesignated as the 73rd Armor in the Combat Arms Regimental System.
Units from the Regiment would take part in the invasion of Panama in 1989, with the Regiment’s C Company, 3rd Battalion earning an Arrowhead device for taking part in an assault landing; the Battalion would also take part in two Gulf War campaigns. But in 1997 the 3rd Battalion was inactivated, and in 2004 the Regiment was redesignated as a Cavalry unit.