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Vanguard Industries Donates Historic Insignia Collection

Thanks to Mr. Bill Gershen of Rancho Santa Fe, California, the National Museum of the United States Army will be the repository of what is considered the most complete and historically relevant distinctive unit insignia collection in the country.

Gershen, President and CEO of the Vanguard Industries of Carlsbad, California, the country’s largest supplier of military insignia for all the services, recently turned over the collection to Mr. Ken Smith-Christmas, the Museum’s Director of Exhibits and Collections.

“This collection of artifacts is truly unique,” Smith-Christmas said.  “It includes nearly every one of the unit crests ever produced for the US Army’s Institute of Heraldry.” 

Vanguard Industries, founded in Manhattan by Gershen’s immigrant grandfather in 1918, obtained the distinctive unit insignia collection in 2000 from the now defunct N.S. Meyer Military Insignia Company of New York.  Every one of the heraldic artifacts is complemented by colored drawings, blueprints, die stamps, rejects, and/or accompanying instructional correspondence between the Army and the commercial designers.  The files date from the 1900’s when the Institute’s officials were the approval authority.

As Vanguard’s president and a former Air Force veteran with an abiding appreciation for military history, Gershen immediately recognized the historical significance of the collection of artifacts and its intriguing supporting materials. 

“When I heard the Army was building a National Army Museum I felt this collection, with its extensive historical documentation and implications, would be of tremendous interest to Museum visitors, historians, and collectors,” Gershen said, adding that earlier he had provided the National Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio with a historical collection of embroidered Air Force patches.

“This is the only collection of its kind in the world because it thoroughly and precisely records in detail the creation of the Army’s entire heraldic distinguished unit insignia system,” Gershen noted.  “Private collectors from all over made me many tempting offers to buy it, but I truly believe something this unique belongs only to the American public, to the US Army, and to those in the Army who are responsible for keeping an accurate and complete history of these valuable artifacts.  That’s why I’m really happy to present the collection to the National Army Museum,” he added.

According to Smith-Christmas, the Gershen collection was transferred to Fort Belvoir’s National Museum of the United States Army Project Office in 20 large boxes which included nearly 2,000 individual files.  Each file includes at least one copy of an approved crest, and some contain as many as ten to fifteen variations leading to the version finally approved by the Institute of Heraldry.

“One of the most engaging files contains correspondence specifying the depiction of an Army mule for the 99^th Field Artillery Battalion’s unit crest,” Smith-Christmas noted.  “The New York-based artists knew what horses looked like because of New York’s horse-drawn streetcars and vegetable carts, but they weren’t familiar with mules.  Their designs kept including the head of a horse rather than that of a mule, and Army officials refused to accept their submissions until the artists got it right.  This particular file contains sequential exchanges between the Institute and the artists that are bound to interest visitors and collectors alike.”

The Gershen collection is envisioned as a prime attraction for both the public and for military historians, collectors, and researchers.  Smith-Christmas said that selected groupings of the crests and files will be exhibited on a rotating basis in the “Medals and Insignia” section of the Museum’s Army Team gallery.  Meanwhile, the remaining heraldic artifacts will become the centerpiece of Army’s Museums Collection Branch’s extensive research collection available for both public view and individual study by military historians, insignia collectors, and student groups at the Museum’s Support Center.

According to Judson E. Bennett, Jr., Museum Project Director, unique collections like the one Gershen has donated will enrich a visitor’s experience at the National Museum of the United States Army beyond all expectations. 

“Think of it—no other military museum in the country or the world will be able to document for the public or for military historians and collectors the intriguing details and compelling histories that went into the designs of the US Army’s distinctive unit crests,” Bennett said.  “We are truly indebted to Mr. Gershen for his extraordinary generosity.  His personal preference to share these priceless Army artifacts will create a strong and unparalleled Museum experience for our visitors.”

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