The 119th Infantry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia was approved on 4 February 1943 and was amended to change the description on 29 March 1953. Blue is featured predominantly in the insignia to reflect the organization’s status as an Infantry unit. A lion rampant is represents the qualities of the Regiment’s Soldiers—strong, valiant, and a foe that is to be feared. The unit motto, UNDAUNTED, is a description of the character of the Regiment’s personnel regardless of the mission or battlefield situation.
Also known as a unit crest or DUI, a Distinctive Unit Insignia is worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.
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Originally constituted as the 1st Regiment, North Carolina Volunteers, the 119th Infantry Regiment’s heritage includes seven Civil War campaigns while in Confederate service. In June 1916, the modern-day version of the unit began to take shape as the 2nd Regiment of Infantry was mustered into Federal service and redesignated as the 119th Infantry Regiment and assigned to the 30th Division, nicknamed the “Old Hickory” Division and designated as the 30th Infantry Division since February 1942. The Regiment would serve as part of the Division’s 60th Brigade during World War I and receive credit for fighting in three campaigns.
Between World Wars, the Regiment was consolidated with the 120th Infantry to form the 1st Infantry Regiment in the North Carolina National Guard, but in August 1942 the 119th was reconstituted, allotted to the North Carolina National Guard, and assigned once again to the 30th Infantry Division. During the Second World War, the Regiment would serve in the European Theater and was honored with two Presidential Unit Citations, two French Croix de Guerre awards (one with Silver Gilt Star, one with Palm), and a Belgian Fourragere 1940 for two citations in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army.
The Regiment remained a part of the 30th Infantry Division following its 1959 reorganization as the 119th Infantry in the Combat Arms Regimental System, although it would be reorganized numerous times and have a varying number of battalions between that time and its eventual inactivation in 2000.