Army & Navy – INSIGNIA: The Avengers

A new shield-shaped insignia last week blossomed on the sleeves of U.S. soldiers attached to General Dwight Eisenhower’s headquarters in Britain. Officials said that its complicated design is symbolic.

The shield’s black background is the “darkness of Nazi oppression.” A Crusader’s sword across the shield has “red flames of avenging justice leaping from its hilt.” Above the sword a rainbow, made up of all the colors of the United Nations, stands for hope. Over the rainbow a field of blue represents “peace and tranquillity for the enslaved people of Europe.”