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SHOULDER SLEEVE INSIGNIA OF THE 89^th DIVISION
This article originally appeared in the May-June 1954 issue of the Trading Post. It has been reformatted for the web site and color drawings replace the original black and white ones.

Following World War 2 the 89^th ‘Rolling W’ Division took their former black on khaki design and colored it red, white and blue. Originally the design appeared as a monogram ‘MW’ for Middle West, the home area of the original division, but in World War 1 this was no longer the case and it came to be called the ‘Rolling W’. The ‘W’ design was to represent both the ‘M’ and the ‘W’ although worn in the ‘W’ position. The 89^th Division also, during World War 1, chose to show its individual units by various colors appearing in the lower center panel of the ‘W’. The rest of the background is khaki. One other design was also prepared by the 89th during World War 1, but was probably little, if ever, used. This was a yellow sunflower with a black center.

Current Insignia


Division Headquarters	177th Infantry Brigade	178th Infantry Brigade	164th Field Artillery Brigade

341st Machine Gun Battalion	342nd Machine Gun Battalion	343rd Machine Gun Battalion	314th Engineer Regiment

314th Signal Battalion	Supply Train	Sanitary Train
HONOR UNITS – 89^TH DIVISION World War I From The Trading Post April-June 1974 Dennis White Several of the World War 1 Divisions had their shoulder sleeve insignia made in various colors. The different colors indicating the individual units with in the division. Here, however, is an entirely new discovery in the field of World War 1 shoulder sleeve insignia by Dennis White of Napa California – A special mark within the patch to honor the best unit of each type, At the conclusion of the war, the 89th Division was assigned occupation duties with the Army of Occupation. Plans were drawn up to hold competitions on a quarterly basis on training, drill, marksmanship and inspections. Those units doing best in these competitions were authorized to add a white sector to their division patch to indicate this honor. The best company (or battery) in a battalion would wear their white award in the lower left panel; the best battalion in a regiment wore the panel in the in the upper left position; the best regiment in the division, the upper right position; and the best brigade in the division, in lower right. The 89th division held this competition only one time as they left the Army of Occupation shortly afterwards, returned to the USA and were demobilized. The remaining open area on the patch carried the unit color (see above). Member Dennis White discovered one of these patches made for a unit of the 164th Field Artillery Brigade, and with white insert on the left. Curious as to the meaning of this he researched the book "The History of the 89th Division in the World War (I)", and found this information therein. An excellent job of research! The drawings here represent Honor Units of the 164th Artillery Brigade. Similar insignia existed for each unit

Best Company/Battery in the Battalion	Best Battalion in the Regiment	Best Regiment in the Division	Best Brigade in the Division