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Blue & gold chevrons 1948 - 1951


craig_pickrall
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craig_pickrall

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This is a set of chevrons I sold on ebay a few years ago. It is missing the blue on gold PFC but is other wise a complete set.

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Greg Robinson

These chevrons and divisional insignia were sewn on an M1950 field jacket. Are they Korean War vintage?

 

greg`

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CRAIG: Nice chevrons, often overlooked, when I saw them being worn, they were called "Mammie Eisenhower" stripes back then. The single chevron for Private First Class was called a "torn sleeve." I know they went from Corporal to Staff Sergeant and eliminated buck Sergeant; someone took a a chevron for a Staff Sergeant and cut it down without the arc below, but you could see it was damaged, strange someone would do that as 3 chevrons and an arc looked better than just 3 chevrons, you'd think so? :unsure: Sarge Booker of Tujunga, California

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craig_pickrall
These chevrons and divisional insignia were sewn on an M1950 field jacket. Are they Korean War vintage?

 

greg`

 

The OD stripe on blue twill field was used from FEB, 1951 until JUNE, 1958. I'm not sure what the wear out date was.

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The OD stripe on blue twill field was used from FEB, 1951 until JUNE, 1958. I'm not sure what the wear out date was.

 

 

31 December 1959 was the wear-out date for the OD on blue, those who wore the old Master Sergeant were wearing the new SFC AG44 Green and yellow, they lost a stripe as they brought back buck Sergeant. That was also the date they no longer allowed the OD Ike jacket and matching trousers and eliminated the khaki cotton overseas caps replaced with AG44 Green wool overseas caps. I was at Fort Hood in Texas with the 66th Armored Regiment of the 2nd Armored Division ("Hell On Wheels"). Some refused to wear the "Mammie Eisenhower" stripes and kept wearing older chevrons. :lol: Sarge Booker

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As part of rebuilding this lost thead, here is my contribution from the old one.

 

An example of the blue on gold chevrons for combat troops found on a US Constabulary uniform. If you look closely, you can see where the larger old chevrons were removed to comply with the new 1948 regulations. All of this insignia is machine sewn.

 

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An example of the gold on blue chevrons for non-combat troops found on a Japanese Occupation uniform. I particularly like the zig-zag method of sewing attachment on this insignia.

 

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Closeup view of the Corporal chevrons and sewing.

 

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The small white on blue chevrons were used by Civil Air Patrol in the mid 50's. I have also been told that the Air National Guard was supposed to have used them during the same time period, but have no evidence of this. This set of chevrons does have the three stripe sergeant unlike the Army's combat-non-combat blue & yellow series.

Also in these small chevrons sets are a set made for Army females which are described as "Taupe" colored chevrons which actually are a light tan color background with yellow stripes. These are hard to find. (Sorry, I'm not able to post photos at this time.) See Emerson's book "Chevrons"; they are described & illustrated there.

Just for the record, when these little stripes were first produced, some 3 stripe sergeants were made, but the chevron never used. I used to have one, (but like a dummy, I traded it off many years ago). The one I had was the combat arms type with blue stripes on yellow.

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Here are a couple of "different" examples. The SGM must have been some sort of manufacturer sample or prototype, as the little chevrons went out 7 or 8 years before the SGM chevron came to be.

The MSGT is a German-made example.

Kurt

 

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craig_pickrall

Kurt it is possible that the chevron with star is a non-military chevron. I think the Virginia State Police currently use this size chevron. A couple of years ago I saw 2 VA Troopers together and one was wearing a 6 stripe chevron and the other had 6 stripes and a diamond. I'm not sure what they call those ranks and will not attempt a guess. It maybe that these chevrons are shirt sleeve size only and larger chevrons maybe used on coats.

 

I do not recall ever seeing a non US made chevron of this type. The German made is very nice.

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craig_pickrall

Lee thanks for the info on the use of the white on blue chevron. Good info.

 

I need to check my collection and see if I have a Buck SGT or any of the female chevrons. It has been some time since I looked through them.

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craig_pickrall

I do have a Buck SGT in blue on gold. I also found a couple of helmet decals with blue on gold. I also found a SGT 1st Class in the white on blue. I do not have any of the WAC insignia.

 

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craig_pickrall

This is the drawing the 2" Chevrons were made from. The title reflects WAC Insignia but by reading the descriptions you can see it also included the gold / blue male chevrons as well. This revision of the drawing was after the gold / blue chevrons had been deleted. The info concerning them has been XXXX through. It does describe the WAC chevrons as a Chamios color chevron on a Taupe background.

 

It shows the 3 stripe insignia but it is also XXXX through. If you look at the title it was Corporal. It looks like they were considering and either / or on whether the Corporal would be 2 stripes or 3 stripes.

 

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CRAIG: Same negative turned into a positive showing the deleted buck Sergeant chevrons from the sketch. thumbsup.gif Sarge Booker

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Kurt it is possible that the chevron with star is a non-military chevron. I think the Virginia State Police currently use this size chevron. A couple of years ago I saw 2 VA Troopers together and one was wearing a 6 stripe chevron and the other had 6 stripes and a diamond. I'm not sure what they call those ranks and will not attempt a guess. It maybe that these chevrons are shirt sleeve size only and larger chevrons maybe used on coats.

 

I do not recall ever seeing a non US made chevron of this type. The German made is very nice.

Craig-

Your non-military theory on the SGM makes sense. Being that the SGM rank wasn't on the "drawing boards" when the little chevrons went out in 1951, it wouldn't seem to make sense that a SGM chevron would be made at that point in time.

Kurt

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Gents,

 

The small white on blue chevrons for police are certainly possible. A military association is also possible.

 

Here are white on blue Sergeant chevrons from a wartime dated US Air Corps Auxiliary Military Police uniform dated 1941. These chevrons are full size but I have seen postwar small size chevrons used by police forces.

 

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Closeup view showing the construction of these particular chevrons. The white stripes are cut from wool badge cloth and are individually sewn onto the blue badge cloth backing.

 

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These particular white on blue stripes were used by Civilian Guards acting as Auxiliary Military Police. I would not rule out military association with this type of chevron color combination.

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The 3 stripe Buck Sergeant was not authorized, but they sure can be found.

One I got in Oklahoma and the other I got in California.

Neither one is a cut down, both appear to be cut edge.

 

These are not as clean as Craig's but I still like them in my collection.

 

Bill

 

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  • 3 years later...
Here are a couple of "different" examples. The SGM must have been some sort of manufacturer sample or prototype, as the little chevrons went out 7 or 8 years before the SGM chevron came to be.

The MSGT is a German-made example.

Kurt

 

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According to Emerson's "CHEVRONS" , the 2-inch-wide non-combat chevrons were continued in use after 1951 for wear by women on their dress blue uniforms. Sergeant Major was introduced, effective 1 June 1958, with the star added to the Master Sergeant's chevron to make this catalog number 443 with a manufacturing code of "ak".

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According to Emerson's "CHEVRONS" , the 2-inch-wide non-combat chevrons were continued in use after 1951 for wear by women on their dress blue uniforms. Sergeant Major was introduced, effective 1 June 1958, with the star added to the Master Sergeant's chevron to make this catalog number 443 with a manufacturing code of "ak".

 

Good eye mikeb, this Gold on Blue Sergeants Major female rank insignia was in all likelihood not worn for very long at all,if it was at all worn, as this new E-9 super grade rank was adopted during the introdution of the new Army Green Class A uniform and corresponding Gold on Army Green enlisted rank sleeve insignia.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The 2" chevrons used to come in cereal boxes (Collect the entire set!) when I lived in New York in the early 1950s. I remember finding a 3-chevrom buck sergeant.

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Good eye mikeb, this Gold on Blue Sergeants Major female rank insignia was in all likelihood not worn for very long at all,if it was at all worn, as this new E-9 super grade rank was adopted during the introdution of the new Army Green Class A uniform and corresponding Gold on Army Green enlisted rank sleeve insignia.

Female soldiers did not begin receiving the AG uniforms and gold-on-green chevrons until 1959, with a 1961 wear-out date for the older ones. The Sergeant Major rank was approved in 1958, so the gold-on-blue Sergeants Major stripes would have been manufactured in anticipation of females being promoted to that rank. However, the first woman promoted to Sergeant Major was Carolyn H. James in 1960, so you're probably right about it never being worn.

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The 2" chevrons used to come in cereal boxes (Collect the entire set!) when I lived in New York in the early 1950s. I remember finding a 3-chevrom buck sergeant.

 

Yes and also in special gum/candy like coin machines, I remember them in the late 60s into the 70s, they where normal outside five and dime,s and had a whole differant bunch of patches to include these 48 types.

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craig_pickrall
Female soldiers did not begin receiving the AG uniforms and gold-on-green chevrons until 1959, with a 1961 wear-out date for the older ones. The Sergeant Major rank was approved in 1958, so the gold-on-blue Sergeants Major stripes would have been manufactured in anticipation of females being promoted to that rank. However, the first woman promoted to Sergeant Major was Carolyn H. James in 1960, so you're probably right about it never being worn.

 

 

If you refer to the drawings I posted in post # 14 you will see where revisions were made to the drawing changing it from men's insignia to female insignia. The title is WAC Insignia of Grade. The last photo shows the color for the female insignis is Chamos / Taupe which is the same colors as the WAC branch colors. The blue / gold chevrons were for men only. The women continued to use these chevrons long after the men stopped.

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