Heraldry

The heraldry of the Iowa Wing has been well documented over the course of the last 60 years.  The legacy of the Iowa Wing reached back to before the establishment of a formal Civil Air Patrol in 1939.  The Civilian Pilot Training Program was established in 1938 and had gripped a handful of dedicated citizens in Iowa by 1939.  These citizens bonded over their like-minded passion for aviation and flight.  The same nucleus that bonded these individuals together spurred the establishment of the first Squadron in the Iowa Wing in December of 1941, just days before the Pearl Harbor Attacks.

Iowa Wing Patch

Iowa Wing (IA-001) was established on 1 DEC 1941 and adopted its first patch on 27 JUN 1949 when it was approved by CAP National Headquarters.  The patch was used through 2016 when it was changed to the current patch design.

Design

The original Iowa emblem contained three elements. The first element was a solid white hawk positioned in the nombril point of the disc. The hawk was positioned with its wings in a “V” shape with its tips at the dexter chief and sinister chief locations. The hawk was facing sinister. The second element, was located at the middle base position and within the hawk’s talons, was a green and yellow ear of corn. The third element was the word “IOWA” written in red and located at the chief position. Surrounding the three elements was a thin white circle. The background is Air Force blue.

Significance and Symbology

The white hawk represented the state’s nickname: The Hawkeye State. This nickname was chosen as a tribute to the Native American leader, Chief Black Hawk. The hawk was reversed as the patch was designed to be worn on the right shoulder (1949). When the CAP emblem was removed from the uniform’s left shoulder and wing patches moved to the left shoulder, the hawk was never reversed. The shape of the hawk’s wings (a V-shape) was to represent “Victory” in World War II. The ear of corn represented the state as the “The Corn State”.

Current Patch

In 2016-2017, a new patch was authorized for the Iowa Wing.  This new patch made minor adjustments from the previous design and used a shield and scroll instead of a shield.  The third element from the previous patch was removed, while the other two elements remained the same.  The third element was replaced with the Civil Air Patrol tri-prop emblem at the chief position.  Within the white scroll are the words "IOWA WING" with "IOWA" appearing on the sinister side of the scroll and "WING" appearing on the dexter side of the scroll in Air Force blue.  The scroll is highlighted by Air Force yellow along with the shield.

Legacy Organizations

The chart below shows previous and current units in the Iowa Wing from 1941 to present.