The South Carolina State Guard Shoulder Patch is formed of an elongated straight-sided semi-elliptical shield perfaced Or (Buff) and Gules (Scarlet), bordered Azure (Dark Blue). A pair of crossed scimitars overall points chiefward with dexter scimitar blade over sinister, Argent (Silver), hilted and pommelled Or (Gold). In chief a crescent moon Argent (Silver) points chiefward.
The dimensions are recommended to be 6 cm wide by 9 cm long.
The crossed Scimitars are taken from the insignia design worn by officers of the First South Carolina Regiment (1775-1783). It is found on a portrait of Colonel Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, the Regimental Commander, and on Pinckney's silver gorget from the period. Scimitars were in wide use in the eighteenth and ninteenth centuries as military insignia and are found in many British coats-of-arms. The silver crescent is from the insignia worn by militia units during the Provincial and Revolutionary periods. Buff was the original facing color (cuffs and lapels) of the First South Carolina. Scarlet was the facing color assigned to South Carolina units in the Continental Army by about 1779. Blue is from the State Flag, first adopted in 1776, and probably made from the same material used to make the uniforms for the South Carolina Regiments.
Original design by George E. Meagher, American Military Museum, Charleston.