Sometimes called a unit crest or a DUI for short, the Distinctive Unit Insignia of the 126th Infantry Regiment, was originally approved for the 126th Infantry Regiment on 11 August 1927. On 6 January 2000, it was redesignated (with an updated description) for the 126th Armor Regiment and less than eight years later it was redesignated for the 126th Cavalry Regiment on 1 September 2007. Finally, on 22 March 2016, the cycle came full circle as it was redesignated for the 126th Infantry Regiment.
A white background is used for the shield portion because that was the Infantry color at the time that the organization’s earliest predecessor was organized as independent volunteer militia companies at Grand Rapids, Michigan between 1855 and 1859. The blue saltire stands for Civil War service and the four fleurs-de-lis denote four campaigns in France during World War I (see below).
Courage Sans Peur, the unit motto, is French for "Courage Without Fear."
Full 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.
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Mustered into Federal service as the 3d Regiment Infantry, Michigan Volunteers, the unit would fight in twelve Civil War campaigns in the Union army. Following the war, four of the Regiment’s companies that had been reorganized as independent units were consolidated in July 1874 to form the 2nd Infantry Regiment, a part of its history that is recalled by the unit’s Special Designation as the “Second Michigan.”
The regiment received its current designation on 23 September 1917 after being drafted into Federal service. Assigned to the 32nd Division, it would take part in four campaigns and its exceptional service during the OISE-AISNE campaign was recognized with a French Croix de Guerre. World War II would see the Regiment once again assigned to the 32nd, now designated as an Infantry Division. It would fight in four campaigns in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater before the war’s end, earning an Arrowhead for the New Guinea campaign streamer for taking part in assault landings, a Presidential Unit Citation for actions on Papua, and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
The organization's most recent military decoration was awarded to 1st Squadron, 126th Cavalry Regiment for action in 2012-2013, the only active Regimental unit at the time. It has been assigned to the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Wisconsin Army National Guard since its redesignation as the 126th Infantry Regiment in 2016, and as of Summer 2023 it is represented once again by a single active Battalion, the 1st.