This Distinctive Unit Insignia (also known as a DUI or "unit crest") was originally approved for the 71st Artillery Regiment on 21 May 1959 but was redesignated for the 71st Air Defense Artillery Regiment on 1 September 1971. Its scarlet and yellow (gold) colors denote the organization’s status as a unit in the Artillery branch, while the three yellow chevronels are taken from the coat of arms of John Winthrop, founder of the Boston Colony, a nod to the fact that the unit was originally organized in the Boston area in 1918.
Five projectiles stand for the five battle honors (campaign credits) the unit earned while serving in the European Theater during World War II; they also commemorate the unit’s primary mission of attacking and destroying enemy aircraft. UNDIQUE VENIMUS, the Regiment’s motto, is Latin for “We Come From All Parts.”
Distinctive Unit Insignias are 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.
Full guidance on wear of the DUI is found in DA Pamphlet 670-1,
Section 21-22, "Distinctive unit insignia."♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Although it had carried its numerical designation ever since it was originally constituted in the Regular Army as the 71st Artillery (Coast Artillery Corps) in May 1918, the unit would not be organized as an Air Defense Artillery unit September 1971 and the redesignation of the 71st Artillery—itself created in 1959 through the consolidation, reorganization, and redesignation of the 71st and 526th Antiaircraft Artillery Missile Battalion, the 41st Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion, and the 241st Antiaircraft Artillery Searchlight Battalion.
Besides the aforementioned World War II service, the Regiment also fought in fifteen campaigns (out of a total of seventeen) in Vietnam, earning a Valorous Unit Award and two Meritorious Unit Commendations in the process. And for the period 1978-1982—the last four years of the Regiment’s service life—it was selected for an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.