Description of 5th Marines Unit Insignia 

The heroic service of the 5th Marines is richly intertwined with the pride and unquestioning loyalty of the United States Marine Corps. The spirit of the 5th Marines has been captured and presented in the following description of the 5th Marines unit insignia:

    "The 5th Marines unit insignia shall be a scarlet diamond mounted with a scotts cross of forresters green. The cross shall be bordered with a fourrragere surrounding the cross in the shape of a shield, point down, with the fourragere pencil attachment centered below the point in its natural position as being worn. The fourragere shall loop in a perfect circle at the top of the shield to enclose a Marine Corps emblem of gold and form the crest of the insignia. Surmounted on the cross shall be five seahorses of gold, one mounted at the center of the cross and the remaining four mounted one on each arm of the cross. Directly below the shield a scroll of gold shall be mounted so that the pencil attachment of the fourragere is imposed on its center. The scroll shall be lettered in gothic with the following inscription: FIFTH MARINES.

     The scarlet of the diamond background and the gold of the Marine Corps Emblem, seahorses, and scroll represent the traditional colors of the Marine Corps. The forresters green of the scotts cross represents the color of the service and utility uniforms worn by the regiment in four wars. The fourragere is as awarded the 5th Marines for service in World War I. The Marine Corps emblem in the crest of the insignia identifies the unit as a Marine Regiment. The seahorses symbolize the association of Marines with the sea, and with the employment of air and surface deployment from the sea, and with the employment of air and surface deployment from the sea to the battlefield as Cavalry of the Sea. The number of seahorses, five, is the number of the regiment on the Marine Corps lists."