Activated as simply the 5th Division on December 11, 1917, the entire unit had arrived in France by the first of May the following year—and upon its arrival it adopted the now-famous emblem used for its Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI) and Combat Service Identification Badge (CSIB).
According to the Institute of Heraldry, the color red was picked because it is the color associated with Artillery, the branch of service from which the division’s commanding general came. A diamond shape was chosen because of the trade name “Diamond Dye," which used a diamond as its logo and had an advertising slogan that was seemingly custom-made for an Army Infantry unit: “It never runs.” And just a few months after its arrival in France, the unit provide that not only did it
not run, it was quite capable of advancing, even in the face of formidable defenses. (Visit our Web page for the 5th Infantry Division's Unit Crest to read full details—link below).
Redesignated as the 5th Infantry Division on 24 May 1943, the unit landed on Utah Beach on D-Day-plus 3. Capturing Angers, Chartres, and Reims, the division eventually launched an assault on Metz in mid-September, temporarily withdrew after a month of fighting, then returned and took the city on November 22, 1944. In 1945, the division crossed the Rhine (March 22) and helped clear the Ruhr Pocket before the German surrender.
In the 1950s, the division was deployed for a brief stint in Germany as part of NATO defenses anticipating an attack by Warsaw Pact forces. During the Vietnam War, two of the division’s infantry battalions were deployed to Vietnam with the 1st Infantry Division, while the 5th Infantry Brigade was sent to a replace a Marine Corps unit after the 1968 Tet Offensive. Units of the 5th Infantry were also deployed in 1989 during Operation Nimrod Dance, the buildup to the invasion of Panama (Operation Just Cause). The Red Diamond was inactivated in 1992 and reflagged as the U.S. 2nd Armored Division.
Related Items
5th Infantry Division Unit Patch (SSI)
5th Infantry Division Unit Crest (DUI)