USMC MARINE CORPS FORCES SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND INSIGNIA

More than ten years elapsed between the establishment of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) on 24 February 2006 and the official announcement of an insignia pin for Officers and enlisted Marines assigned to the elite command.  

Approved on 17 August 2016, the Marine Special Operator Insignia is awarded to Marines who have completed the five-phase Individual Training Course and are ready to be assigned to a MARSOC unit as an Officer or critical skills operator at one of the three subordinate MARSOC commands: the Marine Raider Regiment, Marine Raider Support Group, or Marine Special Operations School.

The Marine Special Operator Insignia consists of a bald eagle, symbol of the United States, with wings outstretched and its talon clutching a dagger. Surmounted over the middle of the dagger is an emblem with the Southern Cross constellation, symbolizing the actions of Marine units, in particular the Marine Raiders, in the Pacific campaign of World War II. (The Southern Cross appears on the Shoulder Sleeve insignia of all three of MARSOC’s subordinate commands.” Just below the tip of the dagger is a scroll with the phrase “Spiritus Invictus,” Latin for “Unconquerable Spirit.”