Australian Army unit colour patches

This article is about the Australian system of colour patches. For other uses, see Formation patch.

Marchers in World War II Australian uniforms, wearing the colour patch of the 2/8th Battalion. ANZAC Day Parade in Brisbane, Queensland, 25 April 2007. This colour patch was based on that of the 8th Battalion, 1st AIF, with grey trim to distinguish it as the colour patch of a unit of the 2nd AIF.

Unit colour patches (or simply known as colour patches)[1] are a method of identification used by the Australian Army, used to indicate which unit a soldier belongs to.

It is believed that the Australian system of colour patches is based upon the small patches of colours or tartan worn on the puggarees of the pith helmets of members of a number of British Army units during the Second Boer War, the South African War of 1899–1902.[2] While some modern Australian colour patches are recent creations, many date back to World War I.

Banner representing the 60th Battalion of the 1st AIF. ANZAC Day Parade in Melbourne, Victoria, 25 April 2019. The banner design is based on the design of the 60th Battalion's unit colour patch.

The first approval for the use of distinctive unit colours for Australian army units came from Major General William Throsby Bridges for the 1st Division to fly flags to denote unit areas and lines in Egypt during World War I. C.E.W. Bean made the first reference to unit colour patches to be worn on the uniform, when he described Major General Bridges issuing 1st Australian Divisional Order No. 562 dated 8 March 1915, ordering that patches be worn, describing how they would look and ordering that they were to be worn on the uniform sleeve 1 inch (25 mm) below the shoulder. As this was an extension of the order for the posting of the colour flags to denote headquarters and unit lines, these flags were used as the basic design for 1st Division uniform colour patches.[3][4][5][6]

In total over 300 individual patches were eventually authorized for Australian units during World War I.[7]

Since World War I, many units have used colour patches showing their relationships to units of earlier times. For example, railway operating units of both the First and Second World Wars displayed a diamond (or lozenge) shape in the purple of the engineers on a red square background. Wherever possible the features of modern colour patches also reflect relationships between current units and their antecedents from previous wars. For example, modern and historical artillery patches are red and blue, modern army aviation patches preserve the light blue background with red and blue vertical bands of their World War 1 antecedents, while modern engineer patches remain predominantly purple. Some modern units reflect that they are direct descendants of World War 1 and 2 units. For example, the 8th/7th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment of rural Victoria uses the white over red horizontal rectangular patch of the original 8th Battalion. The shapes, colours and embellishments of unit colour patches therefore not only identify individuals as members of units, but they can also reflect the story of the unit.

In more modern times the first known example of a colour patch worn by Australian Army personnel was that of the Australian Army Fire Service (AFS). The patch was originally designed and worn by members of the Enoggera Fire Station (c. 1980) and consisted of a blue roundel ring around a red circle in the centre. The words "Army Fire Service" emblazoned in the blue roundel and an image of the Royal Australian Engineer 'bomb' insignia in front of two crossed fire axes in centre circle. The badge was worn on the right sleeve, and whilst initially unofficial, it was quickly adopted by all other units of the Australian Army Fire Service, including being used as insignia on the doors of AFS vehicles. Over time the patch was modified several times, with the image below depicting the second generation, where the blue outer edge stitching was changed to gold.

Australian Army Fire Service shoulder patch - c. 1980

Nowadays modern unit colour patches are approximately 40 millimetres (1.6 in) x 40 millimetres (1.6 in) in size and use a large variety of colours and shapes to distinguish the units they represent while preserving links to patterns used by related units from earlier times. Unit colour patches are currently worn on the right side of the puggaree on the slouch hat in the Australian Army.

  1. ^ "Colour Patches". Australian Army. Archived from the original on 19 July 2005. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Australian Army Unit Colour Patches – A Brief History". colourpatch.com.au. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  3. ^ Glyde (1999), pp. 7–8
  4. ^ "The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) badges 1914–1918, 31 July 2014 by Dianne Rutherford – Colour patches". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  5. ^ "History of Australian colour patches". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  6. ^ Chinn D (2000). "Valued more than any other decoration: Colour patches of the Australian army". Wartime. 11: 30–33.
  7. ^ Jobson 2009, p. 35.