The U.S. Army Reserve Legal Command Shoulder Sleeve Insignia–Military Operations in Hostile Conditions (MOHC) insignia, commonly referred to as a shoulder patch or a unit patch, was approved on 16 September 2009, the same date on which the Command was activated.
It employs a stylized shape that recalls the tri-cornered hat worn by Minutemen in the American Revolution, an image that is used for Army Reserve heraldry in honor of the “citizen soldiers” who volunteered in our nation’s fight freedom and who have answered the nation’s call to arm in all subsequent wars, conflicts and operations.
In the center of the patch is a fasces, a bound bundle of wooden rods wrapped around an axe that has served as a symbol of legal authority for centuries and which denotes the fact that the Command is the first-ever command organization for units of the Judge Advocate General’s Corp in the Army Reserve. The faces’ individual rods represent the Command’s individual units that are now bound together into a single organization.
Atop the fasces is a crossed pen and sword, images inspired by the branch insignia of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps: the pen alludes to the scholarly aspect of the practice of law and the concept that the Rule of Law is written down so all citizens can understand it and ensure that it is applied consistently to protect their rights. The sword recalls the military nature of the organization, while the white background (of the colored version) is a sign of the purity of justice and recalls its power, a concept that is the basis of the unit motto VICTORIA PER JUSTITIAM, Latin for “Victory With Justice.”
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Army Reserve Legal Command Unit Crest (DUI)