U.S. ARMY 504TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, 1ST BATTALION BERET FLASH AND/OR OVAL

us army 504 infantry 1st battalion flash and oval

The 504th Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion Airborne background trimming (oval) and organizational flash were approved for wear on 8 July 1992, the same date as the Regimental Headquarters flash and oval were approved. Their design is identical to the HQ insignia but with the addition of a single blue notch on the left and rights sides that denotes their numerical status within the Regiment.

Though commonly called beret flashes, the term organizational flash is a more accurate name since each one identifies the specific organization in which the wearer serves, as opposed to the blue flash worn on the black beret that signifies only that the wearer is in the Army. The type of organization is denoted by the color of the beret on which the flash is worn: the 504th Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion flash is worn on the maroon beret that’s been authorized for wear by members of units with the Airborne designation.

Officers wear their non-subdued insignia of grade centered on the stiffener of the maroon beret (Generals are allowed to extend past the edge of the flash if necessary), while all Enlisted personnel wear their Distinctive Unit Insignia (or Regimental Distinctive Insignia is their unit has no DUI). Exceptions to these rules are spelled out in the January 2021 edition of DA PAM 670-1, paragraph 19–21(c)2.

Ovals are worn by male and female personnel beneath Air Assault and Parachutist badges on Service Uniform coats (AGSU and ASU/ASU Dress) and Service Uniform shirts (except on the Class B AGSU) and by female personnel on the Army Maternity Tunic. Worn together, the two items are considered one. Measurements to determine placement are done from the edge of the trimming (or the top of the star and wreath found on Senior and Master Parachutist badges).

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The 1st Battalion, 504th Infantry Regiment was originally constituted as Company A, 504th Parachute Infantry on 24 February 2942 and activated on 1 May 1942 at Fort Benning, Georgia (it was renamed Fort Moore in October 2023). Assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division—a relationship it would maintain except for a five-year period between 1958 and 1963—the unit fought in six campaigns in World War II, and it received Arrowhead devices to complement the streamers of campaigns in which they took part in some type of Assault landing. It was also chosen for the same three Presidential Unit Citations awarded to the Regimental HHC and the units that became the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, as well as a fourth PUC awarded solely to it for action along the Rhine River.

Its battle honors and military decorations following World War II include two Armed Forces Expeditions, two Persian Gulf War campaigns (for which it received a Meritorious Unit Commendation, or MUC), and two campaigns in the War on Terrorism, one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. But the small number of official campaign credits belies the amount of service the Battalion has rendered in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Deployed on numerous occasions to the region, it was awarded three Valorous Unit Awards and three MUCs for its service between 2003 and 2014.

As of June 2021, the 1st Battalion, 504th Infantry Regiment—identified as the “504th Parachute Infantry Regiment—is assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division and is headquartered at Fort Bragg along with Regimental HQ and the 2nd Battalion.

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U.S. ARMY 504TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, 1ST BATTALION BERET FLASH AND/OR OVAL