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:
The statue is heavily damaged, with its head removed and its arms and royal insignia worn away.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
Even the stage curtain, graced with Brigadoon’s floral insignia, is a work of art.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 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
Platner pleaded ignorance—claiming that he had gotten inked with insignia while drunk and off duty in Croatia, and didn’t understand the horrific context until much later.
From Slate ● Apr. 13, 2026
“Guilty it is, then,” remarked the officer without insignia, and wrote a word on a page in the folder.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
First to sport the new five-star insigne, on the flag of his flagship* last fortnight, was Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King.
From Time Magazine Archive
Members of the team will have "but one loyalty, one purpose, one distinguishing insigne."
From Time Magazine Archive
The paper work was standard except for a fancy cover, decked with a two-color reproduction of the division's insigne.
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
“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
The armoured convoys are sporting white triangular insignias, seemingly to distinguish them from hardware used within Ukraine itself.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2024
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
There I gave up my street clothes and was given a set of old army fatigues with the insignias ripped off.
From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
