WHAT'S NEW?

1. Heraldry description
2. Downloadable references
3. Source of the unit motto Play the Game.
4. Downloadable unit crests.

1st Battalion, 50th Infantry

"Play the Game"

50th Infantry Regiment Shield

Argent, on a pale wavy azure a dolphin hauriant embowed of the field, on a canton of the second the totem pole of the 23rd Infantry proper. The shield is the white and blue of the Infantry. The device of Syracuse is a dolphin.

50th Infantry Regiment Crest

On a wreath of the colors an eagle's head erased sable, beaked and langued gules (of the Rhine Province). The 50th's overseas service in the World War (WWI) was in the Army of Occupation in the Rhine country indicated by the pale with wavy edges. It had been under orders for Silesia at the time of the Armistice. The crest is the eagle's head of these two provinces. Pictured at right are the 50th Infantry Regimental Crest, the Coat of Arms of Silesia, and the Crests of Lower and Middle Silesia.

50th Infantry Regiment Motto                                                                                                     

The unit's motto "Play the Game" was taken from "Vitai Lampada" ("They Pass On The Torch of Life"), a poem written in 1892 by Sir Henry Newbolt (1862-1938). See Sir Henry's photograph below.

Sir Henry was considered one of Edwardian England's "Great Men,". He met his close friend General Sir Douglas Haig when both were students at Clifton College, whose cricket field provides the scene of Newbolt's first stanza. Newbolt's belief in public (i.e., "private") school values, the virtues of putting others first, good sportsmanship, and "playing the game" (whether in life or in battle) is dramatized in the poem, which seemed to anticipate the coming need for selfless sacrifice for loyalty and duty and clearly impressed the person who chose the 50th Regiment's motto in 1917. Thanks to Tom Blankenship via Ken Riley for this input.

Symbolism

The regiment was organized in 1917 at Syracuse, N.Y., by drafts of personnel from the 23rd Infantry.  The parentage of the regiment is indicated in the canton. The 23rd (Infantry) took over Alaska in 1867 and this is communicated in the crest of that regiment which is an eagle, the new owner America, upon a plate which is upon the head of a bear, the old owner Russia, the story being that the old owner gave a feast to the new owner when the country changed hands.

Description compiled from Special Orders dtd 11/11/58 by Preston E. Ingalls (August 1987)

Reference Documents

Primary reference documents are available to download in Adobe Acrobat *.pdf format:

QMACH 424.2 & 421.4 , Coat of Arms and Distinctive Insignia for the 50th Infantry, 25 Nov 58, 204kb | click here to download

Department of the Army, Lineage and Honors, 50th Infantry Regiment *, 74 kb | click here to download

Department of the Army, Lineage and Honors, 1st Battalion 50th Infantry, 28 Aug 87*, 1,028 kb | click here to download

Department of the Army, Lineage and Honors, 2d Battalion 50th Infantry, 2 Jun 64, 204kb | click here to download

If you don't have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, press the logo below to get it now .

50th Infantry Regiment and 1/50 lineage and honors statements from Rigo Ordaz, others from Preston E. Ingalls.

Downloadable 50th Infantry Regiment Crests

To download, place your mouse over the desired drawing, press the right click button, and follow instructions on the screen.

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