Lime Green Cloth Parachutist Badges

[btimpe]

Does anyone know why these parachutist badges were embroidered with lime green thread?

[patches]

According to the 1979 book Parachute Badges and Insignia of the World by R.J. Bragg and Roy Turner, these are U.S. Marine badges. In the plate narrative, they say, and I quote.

 

The Army style at Fig 97 is assumed to have been worn by those who successfully completed the Army Parachute Course, and is now presumed to be obsolete.

 

Other than this I can't add anything more, if correct though, it would be something worn back then (1960s) on the utilities as the standard Silver metal wings would be of course worn on the Dress items of the various types, IE Greens, Blues, Khakis.

[btimpe]

Thank you patches. I'm embarrassed to say that I own that book and somehow overlooked the information you provided.

[patches]

Thank you patches. I'm embarrassed to say that I own that book and somehow overlooked the information you provided.

Yeah it happens

 

By the way, what is the backing material? since these were presumably worn sometime in the 1960s, it should be OG Cotton Sateen.

[btimpe]

They're embroidered on the same type of material that a black subdued wing normally is.

 

[patches]

They're embroidered on the same type of material that a black subdued wing normally is.

 

There would be two types of cloth one would see Subdued insignia of this type embroidered on, the OD Cotton Sateen, and a Ribbed Poly/Cotton Blend. This first would be the type used earlier on the full color cloth insignia starting say in the mid-late 50s, it segued as the base cloth for subdued cloth insignia starting in 1967-68, the latter, Poly blend starts to be seen say 1976-77, and was the standard up to the present really, at least when the BDUs stopped being worn.

 

So if it is this latter cloth, we kinda presume it will be of a more contemporary manufacture, and the more I look at it the more I think it is, as in the embroidery style of the wings themselves, that and what looks like poly felt as a backing on the rears, known as Tear Aways, this poly felt wasn't used in the 60s, with U.S. made cloth insignia of this type in the 50s-70s, never used.