Although the 163rd Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia (also known as a unit crest or DUI) was approved in on 18 October 1978, the unit’s history goes back more than five decades prior to that date and the organization of the 2nd Battalion, 139th Field Artillery, an element of the 38th Division in the Indiana National Guard between 1922 and 1924. It would be inducted into Federal service in January 1941, but it was reorganized and redesignated as the 163rd Field Artillery Battalion—still an element of the 38th Division, now the 38th Infantry Division. It would be deployed to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater with the Division, where it would take part in the New Guinea, Leyte, and Luzon campaigns and earn a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
Following the war, it was reorganized on 12 May 1947 in Southwestern Indiana with HQ at Evansville. The process was repeated, along with a redesignation, on 1 February 1959 to create the 1st Howitzer Battalion, 139th Artillery, an element of the 38th Infantry Division. On 1 March 1963, it was reorganized and redesignated again, this time as 1st Battalion, 139th Artillery—but in four years the battalion was broken up on 1 December 1967, its elements reorganized and redesignated as elements in the Indiana National Guard.
It was reformed as a parent regiment in the Combat Arms Regimental System in 1977, some twenty years after most Field Artillery Battalions were converted under that system, to consist of the 1st Battalion—an element of the 38th Infantry Division. It was withdrawn from that system in November 1986 and reorganized in the United States Army Regimental System; it would be reorganized again in that system on 1 September 1994 to consist of the 1st Battalion, but which was now allotted as an element of the 76th Infantry Brigade—an organization that remains intact as of Winter 2023. Its only military decoration since World War II is a Meritorious Unit commendation, awarded for service between November 2005 and September 2006 while attached to the 49th Military Police Brigade.
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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.
Scarlet and yellow, the colors of Artillery units, feature predominantly in the 163rd Field Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia. In its center is a yellow Philippine sunburst on a blue disc; it symbolizes the organization’s Philippine Presidential Unit Citation and recalls the unit’s service in the New Guinea, Luzon, and Leyte campaigns. Additionally, the blue area—suggested by the state flag of Indiana—references the state’s abundance of lakes, streams, and rivers. A vertical upright arrow is an emblem of the state’s Native-American heritage and also visualizes the mission of Field Artillery. Lastly, the placement of the disc and arrow over the heraldic saltire is an allusion to the Indiana state description as “The Crossroads of America.” "Arms For Support" is the Regimental motto.
More guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1, Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e), "Beret" and "Garrison Cap," respectively.