Printed Pegasus Patches - Colour Variations

[tcrown]

I recently acquired two unissued printed Pegasus patches. I was quite surprised about the dark maroon colour compared to my other two pairs of patches which are mounted on BDs and obviously have been worn. Same surprise on the sky blue although not the same on both patches, one being more turquoise type of blue. It is possible that after a few days of exposure to sunlight or rain, the colours have faded to a more reddish type of maroon and the blue turning to almost white. Quality of inks used could have been a factor.

If I refer to Ken Joyce’s excellent book on the Canadian Battalion, several variations of patches have been recorded due to the large number of printing firms that were involved in the manufacturing process from 1942 to 1945. ‘These include slight differences in the silhouette of the Bellerophon on Pegasus as well as variations in the shade of colour used.’ (ref. p114)
All the patches that I have were printed on Drill No #2 cotton coarse weave.

I have attached a few photos as well as close-up of particular details.
I’d like to have other opinions and collectively maybe we can find some of the variations Ken Joyce referred to.

Thanks.
Pierre

[JerryBB]

Showing the reverse is usually telling with these. They do cone in a variety of shades for both the backing and the figures. Also they come in coarse and fine weave variants. The new pair appear fine from the front

[waffen44]

Great thread Gentlemen ! Thanks for the information .

[Mike B]

I am pleased to read of reference to the work and research of Ken Joyce embodied within 'Into the Maelstrom'. His book 'Crimson Spearhead' is another book I would recommend as the definitive work on FSSF insignia in my opinion. There is superb reference to Ranger tabs too within 'Crimson Spearhead'.
Mike

[JerryBB]

Ollie Lock's British Airborne Insignia (Vol.1, Military Mode Publishing 2015) has a good section on Pegasus patches, along with other insignia.

[Frank Kelley]

I am absolutely staggered by the prices being sought these days!

[tcrown]

Originally Posted by JBBOND

Ollie Lock's British Airborne Insignia (Vol.1, Military Mode Publishing 2015) has a good section on Pegasus patches, along with other insignia.

You're right, the back of these patches can reveal extra details and it is the case when I compare the unissued ones with others.
It looks to me the fabric pattern shows some differences with some sort of diagonal texture on the issued example as opposed to the other one.
As already mentioned, all patches I compared were printed on cotton coarse weave.

P. Lock's book seems to show the same difference on page 179 (bottom photo on the left). It could well be one of the variants mentioned by K. Joyce.

Anyone with other variants (figures of colour)?