The insignia used for the Combat Service ID Badge for the 449th Theater Aviation Brigade of the North Carolina Army National Guard is taken the Brigade’s
Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, which was approved on 16 June 2009. Ultramarine blue and golden orange, the primary colors of the insignia, are the branch colors for Army Aviation; the white used for the lightning flashes and sword are emblematic of integrity and purpose.
Wings, of course, indicate the Brigade’s designation as an Aviation unit, and the sword intersecting them recalls the numeral “1,” recognition of North Carolina as the home of the first manned and powered aerial flight (hence the unit motto, “First in Flight”). When combined with the two lightning flashes, the sword also forms a “strike point” for aerial forces; the dual lightning flashes also stand for the unit’s dual mission of combat and homeland service during an emergency or crisis.
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449th Theater Aviation Brigade Unit Crest (DUI)
449th Theater Aviation Brigade Combat Service ID Badge (CSIB)