Interesting discussion. The subject of "combat recognition" is an active one in Canada, as many militaries have awarded visible marks for coming under fire - the various assault badges of the Wehrmacht being the most memorable, along with the Combat Infantry Badge and Combat Action Badge of the U.S. military, along with the aforementioned use of the SSI. Canada, of course, has maintained a policy of giving campaign medals and (some feel, grudgingly) recognizing wounds but not actually recognizing service under fire with a tangible, visible uniform distinction. I'm not advocating for or against, incidentally, as it would not apply to me. Just find it interesting.
The 1SSF badge is mentioned above - I am guessing it has some kind of totem status among special forces operators as it appears on combat uniforms in a lot of photos, most recently after the death of a serviceman in Iraq, by those carrying his mortal remains (if I am seeing the photo correctly.)
