Marine Raiders salute past with creation of new insignia
Members of the elite Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) soon will wear their own breast insignia pin, a decoration that is expected to have deep cultural significance and draw comparisons to the Trident worn by Navy SEALs.
The insignia’s design, released by the Marine Corps this week, measures 2 inches by 2¾ inches and includes several nods toward the Marine Raiders of World War II, the elite troops who participated in bloody battles like Guadalcanal in the Pacific. Those Raiders eventually disappeared from the service, but the Marine Corps established a new special operations force in 2006 and adopted the Raider name in August 2014, after years of rank-and-file members requesting to connect back to the earlier Raiders.
The new insignia includes an eagle with outstretched wings carrying a dagger in its talons and a shield with the five stars of the Southern Cross constellation, under which the Battle of Guadalcanal occurred. A banner carrying the motto of MARSOC — “Spiritus Invictus,” or “Unconquerable Spirit” — is aloft across the top. The insignia was designed by a Marine captain who is a member of MARSOC.
Maj. Gen. Carl E. Mundy III, the commander of MARSOC, said in a statement that the new insignia “serves as visual certification” of all the training Marine Raiders must undergo. They must be able to “understand and interact in dynamic, dangerous and politically-sensitive battlefields,” Mundy said.