The Distinctive Unit Insignia (AKA a unit crest or DUI) of the Virginia Army National Guard (ARNG) Element, Joint Force Headquarters (HQ) became effective on 1 October 2003. It had previously been designated as the DUI for the HQ, State Area Command, Virginia Army National Guard beginning on 30 March 1983, but had to be redesignated because the National Guard’s transformation into a joint organization eliminated separate commands for each state’s Army and Air National Guard components. The insignia was originally approved a dozen years before it was assigned to the Army National Guard’s State Area Command when it was designated for HQ and HQ Detachment and non-color bearing units of the Virginia Army National Guard on 31 August 1971.
“Thus Ever To Tyrants,” the motto of the organization, is adapted from the Great Seal of Virginia, on which it is written in Latin: SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS. The shield portion of the insignia features a scarlet background with a white saltire (“x” shape) behind an upright spearhead whose tip is penetrating a link a chain that is broken at the bottom. The white-on-red saltire is a reference to Virginia’s origins as a British colony and further denotes its entry into the Union as its 10th state; the broken chain and spear also adapted from the Virginia State Seal.
The Virginia National Guard's Joint Force Headquarters are based out or Richmond, Virginia.
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