The Vermont Military Crest was first used in the coats of arms of units of Vermont state regiments, and later by the Vermont National Guard, as granted by the precursor organizations of what is now the

United States Army Institute of Heraldry The Institute of Heraldry, officially The Institute of Heraldry, Department of the Army, is an activity of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army solely responsible for furnishing heraldic services to President of the United ...

. The official Institute of Heraldry ''

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...

'' describes the crest as follows: "A buck's head erased within a garland of pine branches all proper." The pine badge is also called a Vermonters badge, and was worn by citizens as a symbol of Vermont identity during the period of the Vermont Republic, by Vermont's military regiments at the Battle of Plattsburg, and through the U.S. Civil War. The crest is based upon the crest found on the

coat of arms of Vermont The coat of arms of Vermont is the official armorial bearings of the U.S. state of Vermont. Most of the elements found in the coat of arms originate in the Great Seal of Vermont designed by Ira Allen. Whereas the Great Seal of Vermont is rep ...

. The design of the Vermont military crest is the source of the nickname for Vermont National Guard officers and enlistees, both male and female, as "Vermont Bucks."

References

* Jason Stein, Berry, and P. J. Capelotti. ''U.S. Army Heraldic Crests: A Complete Illustrated History of Authorized Distinctive Unit Insignia.'' University of South Carolina Press: 1993. . * Jason Stein, Berry, ''U.S. Army Patches: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cloth Unit Insignia.'' University of South Carolina Press: 1997. . * Zieber, Eugene, ''Heraldry in America: The Civic Armorial Bearings of American States.'' Greenwich House: 1974.

External links

Current Vermont National Guard Insignia and CrestsVermont National Guard website
Military in Vermont

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

Symbols of Vermont Vermont National Guard {{vermont-stub