The 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team can trace its lineage as far back as 1881, the year when its oldest forebear was organized on 12 October. But it wasn’t until 1 September 2008 that it received its current designation, and nearly a year-and-a-half later before it received its own unit patch—also known as a Shoulder Sleeve Insignia—setting it apart from the 40th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from which was created.
A scarlet lightning flash with a gold border forms the centers of the insignia, which has a field divided in to gold and blue and a white border. The various colors are there in tribute to the different type of branches the unit’s predecessors have served under: Yellow is the traditional color for Armor and Cavalry, while the Blue in the shield’s lower half is the color of Infantry and the Red of the lighting flash is for Artillery and/or Engineers.
Speed and power are conveyed by the lightning flash, and the white border is taken from the state flag of CalifoRnia. And the two bends suggest the meting of the sea and land at California’s coastline.
The subdued versions you can choose from on the right match the two types of Army Combat Uniform camouflage patterns, UCP and OCP. The color version is the same insignia is used for the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Combat Service ID Badge; the color patch was designed for wear with the discontinued Army Green Uniform and is now worn with the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU).
“Dominate The Fight,” motto of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, is found on the Brigade’s unit crest (AKA Distinctive Unit Insignia).
Related Items
79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Unit Crest (DUI)
79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)