USAF Chevrons

[gap]

Is there any reliable way to date USAF chevrons? Not USAAF or Vandenberg style. Thanks.

[hardstripe]

I am not a collector of USAF Chevrons but seem to have a lot of them. The reason I don't collect them is that there is not enough variety for me. Of course other USAF collectors would disagree.

 

Remember, the USAF adopted their chevrons c. 1948 after the Air Force became its own branch. Most chevrons were cut edge until the late 1960s to early 1970s when the merrowed border came into use. The biggest change was the redesign of the chevrons in 1991 that added a chevron and dropped a rocker for the top three grades. Of course, subdued chevrons can be dated by the uniforms they were worn on. Especially if you have a theater made chevron.

 

However, I will defer to any serious USAF Chevron collector.

 

Here is a brief history from Wiki.

Air Force Chevron History 1.pdf

[texcen]

I know this is an old topic but do you know when the USAF Dress Mess Chevrons were abolished? I have a box of brand new ones to sell but would love to tell the era when they were likely worn. Any one out there care to reply and if anyone is interested in the Chrvrons, send me a pm or a note somehow. [email protected] is my email but be very specific as to what you are talking about as I am doing a lot of different things. Appreciate it. texcen

[Chevron Guy]

Texcen,

What type of USAF dress chevrons do you mean? The USAF white mess dress chevrons were authorized from 1959 thru 1970. The silver on black dress chevrons were authorized from the early 1960s up to 1990, I believe. I am not a true chevron expert, but this is based on the references I've read.

[flyboy53]

Old topic, but I can answer this question. Best way to date an Air Force chevron is whether it has a merrowed edge or is cut. Merrowed edge obviously is newer and is done with a serger.

 

Cut edge rank insignia usually are sewn on a backing similar to the Shade 84 or dark blue cotton and relates to those uniform versions. Merrowed edges pretty much began with Shade 1549. The color of the stripe is silver. If the stars in the middle of the chevron are blue, that's from the era late 1970s to early 1980s.

 

The larger chevrons, to include those with one two or three chevrons on top are from 1992-94 on are a darker blue to accommodate the newer uniform, are wider and the stripes are white.

 

I didn't address the formal mess dress uniforms. Those get interesting. Older chevrons are white on white, embroidered aluminum, or silver metallic thread.