Army Rank and Branch collar insignia

[JCFalkenbergIII]

I recently picked up these full color on OD Officer collar patches. When and how long were they in use? Robert

 

EDIT: Pictures are no longer available

[El Bibliotecario]

I can't tell you when they came into use, but I'd guess it was after the Korean war. These were worn on the fatigue uniform in the '50s and '60s until the introduction of subdued rank in the latter part of the 60s. I associate them with the white nametape and black and gold US ARMY tape era. Its common to see them in photos of officers in Vietnam during the first years of that war.

[JCFalkenbergIII]

Thanks for that. I remember seeing photos of them being worn in the early part of Vietnam and associated them with the wearing of the full color patches. I wonder if they were starting to be worn before Korea. I picked them up with some Full Color on OD CIBs,Para and Pilot wings. Robert

[Sabrejet]

Hi Robert. The base fabric can often be a "clue" in this respect. I've got a bunch of these full-colour embroidered rank/ BOS patches. Some on OG sateen, some on OD HBT, some on OD poplin, like WW2 '41 field jacket fabric, and others on khaki twill. As has been already said, they were pretty much standard mid-50s > late 60s until they were gradually replaced by black/OG subdued variants.

 

Ian

[05B4S]

I can't tell you when they came into use, but I'd guess it was after the Korean war. These were worn on the fatigue uniform in the '50s and '60s until the introduction of subdued rank in the latter part of the 60s. I associate them with the white nametape and black and gold US ARMY tape era. Its common to see them in photos of officers in Vietnam during the first years of that war.

 

Full color rank, bos and skill badges were still being worn untill quite awhile after the gold/black Army, and black/white name tapes were replaced in the last half of 1966 (at least in my case). I don't recall for sure, but my guess is subdued rank & bos came in sometime in the second half of 67.

[JCFalkenbergIII]

Thanks guys. Here are a coupla more I have. Robert

[JCFalkenbergIII]

Hi Robert. The base fabric can often be a "clue" in this respect. I've got a bunch of these full-colour embroidered rank/ BOS patches. Some on OG sateen, some on OD HBT, some on OD poplin, like WW2 '41 field jacket fabric, and others on khaki twill. As has been already said, they were pretty much standard mid-50s > late 60s until they were gradually replaced by black/OG subdued variants.

 

Ian

 

Thanks again Ian. The ones I have are the ones on the OD twill. The wings are the type on the OG sateen. Robert

[Devious6]

We were still wearing them into the early '80s, as I remember. This is a picture of me taken in Grafenwohr Germany in '78 or '79 as a young 2LT.

[KurtA]

We were still wearing them into the early '80s, as I remember. This is a picture of me taken in Grafenwohr Germany in '78 or '79 as a young 2LT.

 

Mark-

I know "pictures don't lie", but are you sure that's not a subdued 2LT bar you're wearing? Those were rather light in color. I don't ever recall seeing color collar insignia ever being worn during my Army experiences from the mid 70's through the early 80's.

Kurt

[Devious6]

Kurt,

 

You could be right...and my memory could be faulty. But, the picture sure looks like a "yellow" bar as opposed to the subdued green on my helmet. As I think about it, I'm pretty sure that the 1LT sew-ons were black. I was commissioned in '77 - and I am positive this picture was taken during my first tour in Germany which was August '78 thru July '81. Could be sewn on subdued.

 

So, you could be right...the memory is a terrible thing.