The South Carolina Army National Guard (ARNG) Element, Joint Force Headquarters (HQ) Distinctive Unit Insignia—a device commonly referred to as a “unit crest” or a DUI—was first approved for the HQ and HQ Detachment and non-color bearing units of the South Carolina Army National Guard (ARNG) on 28 May 1971. A little over a decade later, on 1 October 1982, the insignia was redesignated for the HQ, State Area Command, South Carolina ARNG. It would not be redesignated for its current organization until 1 October 2003.
South Carolina is nicknamed the “Palmetto State” and, as the official State Tree, a palmetto appears on the obverse of the State Seal adopted on 2 April 1776. So it is only fitting that a palmetto tree dominates the unit crest of the Joint Force Headquarters of the South Carolina ARNG, set in a blue field with a crescent moon and an eight-pointed spur rowel superimposed over it. The moon is inspired by the battle flag created by Colonel William Moultrie shortly after his two regiments captured and garrisoned on 13 September 1775; the celestial body’s inclusion was a tribute to the silver crescent on his soldier’s cap badges and the blue field, also used on the battle flag, was a nod to the color of the troops’ uniforms.
The South Carolina National Guard's Joint Force Headquarters is based in Columbia, South Carolina.
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