The 501st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion beret flash is worn centered on the stiffener of the maroon beret authorized by the Army for wear by personnel serving in units designated as Airborne—and it’s difficult to imagine a unit that would be considered “more” Airborne. Constituted on 16 September 1940 as Company B, 501st Parachute Infantry, the unit was in point of fact Airborne before the word was used as for unit classification.
This shield-shaped insignia is more accurately called an organizational flash since it uniquely identifies the wearer as a member of 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment. Battalion Officers wear their insignia of grade centered on the flash; NCOs and Junior Enlisted wear their unit’s Distinctive Unit Insignia (DUI) or, in units such as this one that do not have a DUI, their Regimental Distinctive Insignia.
The only exceptions to this rule are the Sergeant Major of the Army (and those serving in the office of the SMA) and the SEAC, short for Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; they wear the collar insignia created for those positions.
The 501st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion oval, referred to as “Airborne background trimming” in Army regulations, is worn beneath the Parachutist or Air Assault badges, with the main portion of the badge (excluding the star or star and wreath on Senior and Master Parachutist badges) centered on the oval. The badge-oval combination is considered a single item vis-à-vis the maximum number of badges and devices on a uniform, with the edge of the oval (or top of the star and wreath for the aforementioned Parachutist badges) used when measuring the distance between it and other items.
Ovals are worn on AGSU and ASU/ASU Dress coats and Service Uniform shirts (except on the Class B AGSU) by both male and female personnel and on the blue or green Army Maternity Tunic by female Soldiers.
View or purchase the 501st Regimental Distinctive Insignia, as well as read a synopsis of the history and lineage of the Regiment and the 2nd Battalion,
by clicking here.