Approved on 17 April 1935, the 263rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia, or DUI, recalls the regiment’s heritage as one of the oldest Army organizations still in existence: its earliest predecessor was the Artillery Company of Charles Town, organized in 1756 and commanded by Captain Christopher Gadsden. The red cross of St. George recalls the unit’s actions in the American Revolution; the color is also the one traditionally used by Artillery units. According to The Institute of Heraldry, the two cannons featured on the insignia are “ancient trophies of the regiment.”
It is not quite clear what reference or allusion is made by the unit motto, “Unsurrendered." In 1776, Gadsden had refused to surrender outlying positions at Charleston to the British and his Regiment repulsed an attempted British assault on the city, thus remaining "unsurrendered," but four years later he did surrender the city to the British. It might also refer to Gadsden's refusal in 1780 to accept a purported offer of parole while imprisoned for an earlier alleged parole violation he insisted he had not committed, thus not surrendering to the British authorities' proposal. We encourage any readers with definitive information on the meaning behind the motto to send us a synopsis and a link to any references in support of the explanation.
You can find guidance on wear of the DUI in DA Pamphlet 670-1, Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia" and 21–3(d) and (e), "Beret" and "Garrison Cap," respectively.
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The 263rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment's lineage since its origins in 1756 (see above) is extremely convoluted, with myriad reorganizations, redesignations, and consolidations making it far too complex for even a synopsis here. Its most recent and pertinent changes came in November 1972 with the redesignation of the 263rd Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System, to the 263rd Air Defense Artillery. It was then reorganized in August 1975 to consist of the 2nd Battalion, an element of the 26th Infantry Division. Presumably, it became the 263rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment in 2005 when the Army changed the nomenclature for many Regimental units.
Wartime credits for the Regiment include the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, and World War II. This Distinctive Unit Insignia is worn today by the Regiment’s sole active unit, the 2nd Battalion. which serves as a subordinate unit of the 678th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, South Carolina Army National Guard.