Approved on 15 August 1930, the 59th Air Defense Artillery Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia highlights the unit’s actions during the First World War. The blue and white pattern on the shield is called a vair and is taken from the coat of arms of the Coast Defenses of Southern New York. The thistle represents the unit's first engagement in France during World War I: it is found on the coat of arms of Nancy (near St. Mihiel) and is also one of the emblems of Lorraine. A lion grasping a sword in its paw is taken from the arms of St. Menehould as a reference to the unit's support of the 28th and 77th Divisions in the Meuse-Argonne from positions near there. The unit motto, DEFENDIMUS, is Latin for "We Defend."
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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The 59th Air Defense Artillery Regiment was first constituted as the 59th Artillery (Coast Artillery Corps) on 1 December 1917 and organized on 1 January 1918 at Fort Hamilton, New York. During World War I, the Regiment was credited with participation in three campaigns (St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, and Lorraine 1918). The Regiment was broken into several units during World War II, and would not be reconstituted until July 1959 with the 59th Artillery, a parent regiment in the U.S. Army Combat Arms Regimental System. (It would go on to be redesignated again in 1971 when it became the 59th Air Defense Artillery Regiment in the U.S Army Regimental System.)
The Regiment’s World War II battle honors include participation in the Philippine Island campaign, three Presidential Unit Citations, and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. Battalions from the Regiment would be deployed in Germany from the 1960s to the 1980s, but the Regiment has no active units today.