Field notes

Reading the iconography

The symbols stitched into Vietnam-era patches carry meaning — unit lineage, dark humor, theater of operation, and the hand of the maker. These notes help you read them.

Reading Vietnam-Era Patch Iconography

Skulls, tigers, bats, and torches — what the dark imagery of Vietnam insignia actually meant.

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Test Iconography Page

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Theater-Made vs. US-Made

How to tell an in-country hand-embroidered patch from later US manufacture.

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