US Special Forces Theatre Made Insignia?
 

I know some of our forum members have an extensive knowledge of USSF insignia and would appreciate your comments/any info you can share on these items.

I believe (or hope) that the standard A/B tab and the SSI may be "theatre made" - possibly in Japan as opposed to the usual Vietnam era fakes.

Having never handled or even seen a worn/washed out teal blue A/B tab I'm not sure if this one is of US manufacture (although I believe it is as I have seen examples with a similar thin "I") or theatre made if such tabs were ever produced.

All came from separate sources.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Hi Harry,

First tab looks US made and I agree that the patch and last tab look Japenese made.

Nice insignia.

Paul

Thanks for that Paul - although I thought the first tab (yellow on black) was more likely to be the theatre made one given its paper backing and the style of stitching in the lettering.

Hi Harry

None of the insignia shown is of US made.

Official US made authorized SSI and Tabs are Schiffli fully embroidered with an exact stitch count as per then OQMC-Heraldic Section drawings.

The Teal Blue Airborne tab was unauthorized however it was used for 77th SF Group 1955-1958. The only known use is US made, have not seen any other to date.

The letter I has not been embroidered in the Teal Blue Airborne Tab.

They are not Japanese made as Japanese embroiderers were very skilled and produced detailed high quality patches.

I believe these are modern day reproductions out of Vietnam.

Note the backing on the reverse of these samples below

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PATCH-F-111...kAAOSwkfVefi~M

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PATCH-12TH-...wAAOSwwz9efjAH

Phill

Sorry Phill - missed your post and have been away for a while and only getting to catch up now.
Thanks for your comments and pointers which I will look into - particularly your point about the "I" in the airborne tab which I completely missed. (I had been told by a collector in the US it was the genuine article but he never mentioned if it was theatre made or not. When/If I get the chance I was going to do some research and possibly upload the images onto the US Military Forum to see what that generates.

Hi Harry

Always get second opinions when dealing with "theatre made" Vietnam era special forces /Ranger /Airborne patches, its a minefield as you know.

The below patch and tab were standard US made SSI re below for 77th SFG/SF from mid 1950's to late 58. The teal blue Airborne tab was not authorized but worn until the gold on black authorized c1958.

Phill

Hi Phill
Thanks for uploading the photos. Your teal blue tab is the same as a mint one I have in my collection. (Although I have been away from collecting US items for a good few years now it wasn’t until your post that I learnt that this variant was only produced in the US and also means I’m a bit behind on what fakes are out there.) I have being searching for the past few days to see where I came across the other teal blue tabs with the thin “I” without success but if these tabs were never “theatre made” no official US manufacturer would produce such a poor quality badge.
Many thanks for your input.