A silver color metal and epoxied device 1 3/16 inches (3.02 cm) in width, consisting of two silver oriental dragons back to back, surmounted by a large blue star, the dragons ears terminating at the sides of the top barbed facet, superimposed at the center of the star a stylized silver sun and at the base of the star a Korean Taeguk Proper; attached to thesides and the base of the device an outwardly arched maroon scroll inscribed NON SECUNDUS in silver.
Silver and maroon are the colors of the Army Medical Department. The five segments of the star represent three campaigns in the Pacific theater of World War II and two in the Korean War, the barb on the upper point denoting participation in an assault landing on Leyte in the Philippines. The color blue alludes to the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to the Hospital for service on Papua. The silver Philippine sun at center of the star and the Taeguk symbol below, refer to awards of the Philippine and Korean Presidential Unit Citations respectively. The two dragons, based on sculptured dragons guarding the entrance to a war memorial in Saigon, represent two awards of the Meritorious Unit Commendation earned by the Hospital for service in the Republic of Vietnam. The motto translates to Not Second.
The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 2d Surgical Hospital on 30 September 1969. It was redesignated for the 502d Surgical Hospital on 28 January 1985. It was redesignated to the 502d Field Hospital on 16 September 2019.