89TH REGIONAL READINESS COMMAND PATCH
The U.S. Army 89th RRC patch, the “Rolling W”, consists of a white letter “W”, enclosed in a red bordered circle, on a blue field. The patch was developed during World War 1 while the 89th was stationed for training in France. It was “officially” explained to designate the “Middle West” since the letter could be rolled to make an “M” and rolled again to make a “W”. The official explanation continues that halfway between a completed roll, the Greek Sigma, a symbol of summation, can be observed, also the circle represents rest in any position and strikeout in any direction at any time.
Despite the official definition of the “Rolling W”, the most common belief among the soldiers in the 89th Division at the time it was created, was that the symbol stood for the first letter in the names of the first general officers to command the 89th - Wood and Winn. Depending on personal preference, the original soldiers of the 89th were often heard to refer to themselves as “Wood’s own” or “Winn’s own”. By coincidence, the third commander, MAJ GEN William Wright, had a last name, which also began with a “W”.
89TH REGIONAL READINESS COMMAND CREST
The distinctive insignia of the 89th RRC is of a gold color metal and red enamel octagon with a gold torch between two gold fleu-de-lys, in the base, and two white enamel chevrons in front of the torch base with the internal area of blue enamel.
The gold torch symbolizes the 89th’s peacetime mission as an RRC unit with the fleur-de-lys representing the 89th’s participation in campaigns in France during World War l and ll. The chevrons show the 89th’s combat support role and also simulate the letter “M” for Midwest. The chevrons over the blue background also symbolize the 89th’s participation in the Crossing of the Rhine during World War II.