Shield
Azure on a pale nebuly Argent a double handed sword erect Gules.
Crest
On a wreath Argent and Azure between a Japanese city symbol Gules and a mullet of seven points per fess wavy of the last and of the second, a sea lion Or charged on the shoulder with a heart Purpure and holding in his dexter paw a sword bendwise of the first with hilt and pommel of the fourth the blade notched three times to base of the third.
Motto
NE DESIT VIRTUS (Let Valor Not Fail).
Shield
Blue is for the Infantry. The partition line of the pale heraldically representing clouds and the doubled-handed sword, an ancient infantry weapon, symbolizes the character of the organization as an Airborne Infantry unit.
Crest
The golden seal lion, adapted from the seal of the President of the Philippines, represents the award of the Philippine Presidential Unit Streamer for the campaign on Manarawat, scene of the first combat jump of the 187th. The heart on the lion's shoulder points out the action on Purple Heart Hill. The winged sword with three notches in the blade signifies the unit's score of three combat jumps, one in the Philippines and two in Korea. The red diamond shape is the insignia of the city of Yokohama, Japan, where the 187th landed as the first American combat troops and began four years of occupation duty. The seven-pointed star, divided in the manner of the Korean Taeguk stands for the unit's seven campaigns in that country.
The coat of arms was originally approve on 15 Dec 1952 for the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment. It was redesignated for the 187th Infantry on 7 Feb 1958. On 15 Apr 1965 the coat of arms was amended to add a crest. 19 Dec 1984 the symbolism was amended to more accurately reflect the three notches in the blade of the winged sword.