Original Item: One-of-a-Kind. This is an ultra rare uniform patch insignia from World War One for the 5th Marines Headquarters Company. The patch features a black felt background that measures about 3⅜ x 4½”, with a felt five pointed star patch with an embroidered Indian Head sewn to the center. These patches are extremely rare and ones in this grade are close to impossible to find on the market.

This example is very crude which is just as they would’ve been made by soldiers with few materials on hand. There are some moth holes in the bottom right but this is the real deal. This example comes with a German-printed copy of the Commendations of the 2nd Division. The book is 39 pages long and strangely appears to have been printed between pages of a German book as there are pages at the beginning and end in German. The book measures 5½ x 8¾”. 

Almost 100 years after its inception, the 2nd Division’s distinctive star and Indian head insignia is perhaps the most sought after of all of the shoulder patches used by the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF). There are a number of reasons for this … One being the 2nd Division’s unmatched fighting record during the Great War. Another is that it was the only AEF division to be composed of Army, Navy and Marine Corps personnel. Still another is because the shoulder sleeve insignia (SSI) was authorized to be made from six different colors of cloth that were cut into fourteen different shapes, geometric and otherwise.

In this system, the "black square" indicates the Headquarters Company of the 5th Marine Regiment, part of the 4th Marine Brigade. This is one of the only times they ever used army style unit patches, and generally each regiment used a different background
shape, with the colors designating which battalion they were.

The U.S. Marine Corps did not field divisional size units during WWI, so they were made part of the divisions of the U.S. Army. In fact, the entire 2nd Division was for a time during WWI commanded by U.S.M.C. Major General John A. Lejeune himself!

This is a great set, ready for further research and display.