WIESBADEN, Germany -- U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden Commander Col. Noah Cloud unveiled a new installation crest to employees at the July All Hands meeting.
The new crest includes the U.S. and German flags, as well as city seals for Mainz and Wiesbaden. The Wheel of Mainz, or Mainzer Rad, was the coat of arms of the Archbishop of Mainz and the Electorate of Mainz. It consists of a silver wheel with six spokes on a red background. Currently, the city uses a double wheel connected by a silver cross.
The Wiesbaden coat of arms shows three golden lilies, or fleur de lis, which appeared in the city seal for the first time in the 16th century, surrounded by a blue field. The seal in its present form was established in 1906.
In the crest, the city seals are on either side of the "Berlin Peace Bridge," which mimics the bridge on the Berlin Airlift weather vane memorial near Newman Village on Clay Kaserne. The weather vane at the memorial is one of many that were displayed on the roofs of barracks housing Berlin Airlift pilots in 1948 and 1949. The "air bridge" sits on top of the silhouettes of two Douglas C-54 Skymasters, the airplanes used in the airlift, and represents the link created by pilots as they flew supplies to Berlin during the airlift.
The 84 stars on the edge of the crest are divided into three segments representing the 14 Germans, 39 British and 31 Americans who lost their lives during the Berlin Airlift.
The final element of the design is the garrison slogan, "Our Home in Germany."
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