insignia
Americannoun
-
a badge or distinguishing mark of office or honor.
a military insignia.
-
a distinguishing mark or sign of anything.
an insignia of mourning.
noun
-
a badge or emblem of membership, office, or dignity
-
a distinguishing sign or mark
Usage
Insignia, originally the plural of Latin insigne, began to be used as a singular in the 18th century, and the plural insignias appeared shortly thereafter. All uses— insignia as a singular or plural and insignias as a plural—are fully standard. The singular insigne still occurs, but insignia is more common.
Etymology
Origin of insignia
1640–50; < Latin, plural of insigne mark, badge, noun use of neuter of insignis distinguished (by a mark); see in- 2, sign
Explanation
An insignia is a badge you wear to show your position or affiliation. If you're an Eagle Scout, you can wear that insignia, or, if you're a Red Sox fan, you might wear the team logo as your insignia. The word insignia includes the word "sign" — an insignia is a sign that shows your connection to some organization. Military officers wear insignias that indicate their rank. When you watch the president of the United States give a speech, you'll see on the lectern the official presidential insignia — the circular seal with the eagle inside.
Vocabulary lists containing insignia
The Things They Carried
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Fallen Angels
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Projekt 1065
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
These officers carry assault rifles, with no visible insignia and faces covered.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
The statue is heavily damaged, with its head removed and its arms and royal insignia worn away.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
“We got turtlenecks with the Chargers insignia on them,” Rogan recalled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
In the virtual hearing, which lasted five minutes, she said she spoke to a man dressed in a green uniform, stitched with what looked like government insignia, seated in front of an American flag.
From Salon ● May 2, 2026
Frau Elena pins her party insignia through her lapel before opening the door.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
All planes bore the winged sea-horse insigne of Air France, Europe's biggest and the world's longest airline.
From Time Magazine Archive
Why the Harriers keep crashing They wear the insigne of the ace of spades, card of death, on their olive-drab flight suits, and they speak with studied confidence of their assignment.
From Time Magazine Archive
And beer mugs and beach towels with an insigne of your auto's make on them, air horns that play your favorite tune, wood and leather steering wheels, driving gloves, headers, roll bars.
From Time Magazine Archive
The chain editorials that went out from New York to all Scripps-Howard papers were not even sent to the Enquirer; the chain insigne, a lighthouse, did not shine from its pages.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Anybody wearing the fraternity pin,” he added, and touched a blue dot tattooed under his left eye— an insigne, a visible password, by which certain former prison inmates could identify him.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
With the SR-71, the Air Force, taking over high-altitude reconnaissance from the CIA, insisted that markings and insignias be painted on the all-black plane—a ridiculous request.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Children, parents and medical staff assembled in the courtyard before Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in central Gaza, with many of them unfurling banners carrying university insignias with “Thank you for supporting our cause.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2024
The male dancers are clearly wearing uniforms, but Demuth chooses not to include insignias, medals, or other identifying marks.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
Among more than 1,000 items were Nazi insignias, uniforms, flags and images of Adolf Hitler.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2021
He usually wore a baggy Army uniform with no insignias.
From "Mississippi Trial, 1955" by Chris Crowe
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
