The Sauk Centre Herald

Army Medical Corps Insignia

The insignia of the medical corps of the army is the Caduceus, a winged staff of Mercury (Greek, Hermes) with which he controlled the living and the dead so that he could go unmolested where he willed; he carried it especially when he escorted the dead to the world below. In its earliest form it is composed of three branches—one forming the handle and the other two intertwined. Later the intertwined branches were replaced by snakes, and still later wings were added to the staff. Among moderns the Caduceus is used also as an emblem of commerce, over which Mercury was the presiding divinity.