Why Is The Army Flag Patch Reversed?

[D.Sigurdsson]

this question was asked here The Camouflage Evaluation Facility (http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=24375&start=16).

Even though I knew the answer many people still dont know this answer.
Found this on http://www.marlowwhite.com (http://www.marlowwhite.com/faq-why-is-the-flag-patch-reversed.html)

Civilians often wonder why the US Army Flag Patch is reversed. The answer is: not all Army Flag Patches are reversed, but only those worn on the right shoulder. The reason has to do with proper display of the flag.

When flags are displayed on moving vehicles, the blue star field is always displayed towards the front of the vehicle. In this way, the flag appears to be blowing in the wind as the vehicle travels forward (flags are always attached to their flag poles on the blue field side). If the flag were not reversed on the right hand side of the vehicle, the vehicle might appear to be moving backwards (or "retreating").

The next time you visit an airport, notice that the US-flagged aircraft also have a "reverse" flag painted on the right side of the aircraft.

For flag patches worn on uniforms, the same principle applies: the blue star field always faces towards the front, with the red and white stripes behind. Think of the flag, not a patch, but as a loose flag attached to the Soldier's arm like a flag pole. As the Soldier moves forward, the red and white stripes will flow to the back.

http://www.simnet.is/blindbylur/flags/mini/iceland.gif

[Digital Marine]

Thanks for posting.... i had some clue about the reason but now its all clear! :)

[Chile-9mm]

intresting... thanks

[Midav]

Ty for posting.

However, what I am wondering about, why isn't the patch worn on the left sleeve?

[Digital Marine]

^^ lol.... why not on the pants? p-)

But i think the soldiers can choose on which shoulder they want to put the flag patch on?.

[D.Sigurdsson]

Ty for posting.

However, what I am wondering about, why isn't the patch worn on the left sleeve?

In most cases unit patches are on the left side. But why this setup is used I have no idea :)

[11F5S]

Ty for posting.

However, what I am wondering about, why isn't the patch worn on the left sleeve?

In most cases unit patches are on the left side. But why this setup is used I have no idea :)


The reason is quite simple...It's US Army Regulation.



R 140114Z FEB 04

UNCLASSIFIED
FM DA WASHINGTON DC//DAPE-HR-IRP//
TO ALARACT
INFO RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC//DAPE-HR-IRP//
UNCLAS ALARACT 018/2004
SUBJ: WEAR OF THE REVERSE-SIDE FULL-COLOR U.S. FLAG CLOTH REPLICA

A. AR 670-1, 5 SEP 03, WEAR AND APPEARANCE OF ARMY UNIFORMS AND INSIGNIA.

1. THE NATION IS AT WAR AND WILL BE FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. AS
AN EXPEDITIONARY ARMY, OUR SOLDIERS' COMMITMENT TO FIGHT AND WIN OUR
NATION'S WAR, AT HOME AND ABROAD, IS BEST EXEMPLIFIED BY PERMANENTLY
WEARING THE U.S. FLAG INSIGNIA ON THE UTILITY UNIFORMS. ADDITIONALLY, WEARING THE U.S. FLAG PERMANENTLY ALSO REDUCES THE IMPACT OF SEWING AND REMOVING THE U.S. FLAG INSIGNIA ON UNIFORMS.

2. TO THIS EFFECT, THE CURRENT POLICY OF DEPLOYED SOLDIERS WEARING THE U.S. FLAG ON UTILITY UNIFORMS IS EXPANDED TO INCLUDE ALL SOLDIERS THROUGHTOUT THE FORCE REGARDLESS OF DEPLOYMENT STATUS. THIS MESSAGE SERVES AS IMPLEMENTING INSTRUCTIONS TO A CHANGE TO AR 670-1 ON THE PERMANENT WEAR OF THE U.S. FLAG INSIGNIA.

3. THE INTENT OF THIS POLICY IS FOR ALL SOLDIERS TO PROUDLY WEAR THE
U.S. FLAG INSIGNIA ON UTILITY UNIFORMS: (BDUS, DESERT BDUS, THE
MATERNITY BDU, THE COLD WEATHER COAT (FIELD JACKET), AIRCREW BATTLE
DRESS UNIFORM, AND THE COMBAT VEHICLE CREWMAN UNIFORM AND JACKET
(COLD WEATHER).

4. LEADERS MUST ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH THE FOLLOWING POLICY CHANGE:

A. PERMANENTLY WEAR THE U.S. FLAG INSIGNIA ON THE BDUS, DBDUS,
MATERNITY BDU, THE COLD WEATHER COAT, AIRCREW BATTLE DRESS UNIFORM,
AND THE COMBAT VEHICLE CREWMAN UNIFORM, AND JACKET (COLD WEATHER).

B. WEAR THE U.S. FLAG SEWN 1/2 INCH BELOW THE RIGHT SHOULDER SEAM OF
THE UTILITY UNIFORM. WHEN THE SHOULDER SLEEVE INSIGNIA-FORMER
WARTIME SERVICE (SSI-FWTS) IS WORN ON THE RIGHT SHOULDER OF THE
UTILITY UNIFORM, THE U.S. FLAG INSIGNIA IS PLACED 1/8 INCH BELOW THE
SSI-FWTS.

5. HOW TO OBTAIN:

A. THE U.S. FLAG PROCUREMENT AND ATTACHMENT ON BDUS AND COLD WEATHER COAT FOR ENLISTED SOLDIERS WILL BE AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE, USING OMA FUNDS.

B. THE U.S. FLAG PROCUREMENT AND ATTACHMENT ON BDUS AND COLD WEATHER
COAT FOR OFFICER SOLDIERS WILL BE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE INDIVIDUAL.


C. THE U.S. FLAG PROCUREMENT AND ATTACHMENT ON DBDU, MATERNITY BDU,
AIRCREW BATTLE DRESS UNIFORM, AND THE COMBAT VEHICLE CREWMAN UNIFORM
AND JACKET, COLD WEATHER FOR ENLISTED AND OFFICER SOLDIERS WILL BE AT
GOVERNMENT EXPENSE, USING OMA FUNDS BASED ON CTA-50-900 ALLOCATIONS.

6. THE NEW POLICY IS IN EFFECT UPON THE COMMANDERS' ABILITY
TO PROCURE THE INSIGNIAS AND ALLOCATE FUNDS, AND THE OPERATIONAL
TEMPO DUE TO UPCOMING DEPLOYMENTS/RE-DEPLOYMENTS; HOWEVER, MANDATORY
WEAR DATE OF THE U.S. FLAG INSIGNIA ON THE UNIFORMS LISTED ABOVE IS
NLT 1 OCT 05.

7. ALL OTHER PROVISIONS OF AR 670-1, PARAGRAPH 28-18(B), AND C(2)
(WEAR OF FULL-COLOR U.S. FLAG CLOTH REPLICA) WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED.

8. THE ABOVE STATED CHANGES WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE NEXT REVISION TO
AR 670-1.

9. POC FOR UNIFORM POLICY IS SGM WALTER MORALES, DSN 426-5129; COMM.

10. THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE CHIEF OF STAFF, ARMY.

11. EXPIRATION DATE CANNOT BE DETERMINED.

[Chile-9mm]

just an image of the flag on the tail of a model i have on my desk... after the explanation above seems clear.. i did think why was the flag backwards on the tail... one of those DOH (smack my head on the desk) moments... :oops:
http://img32.exs.cx/img32/9917/Dscn1198.jpg

[bishop1]

^^ lol.... why not on the pants? p-)

But i think the soldiers can choose on which shoulder they want to put the flag patch on?.

I dont know if they can choose what side theyre put on, put there are many pics with them on the different side, but no matter what side the blue is always in front.

[Midav]

The reason is quite simple...It's US Army Regulation.


I do appreciate it and thank you for the info. However, I still don't understand why the Army chose the right shoulder.

The left shoulder is closer to the heart than the right shoulder. Isn't that how ribbons are worn in the military? The more significant the ribbon, the closer to the heart?

Again, just a question.

[taheri]

I remember reading somewhere that the reason the flag is like that is because before, when the US Flag was ridden into battle by Cavalry, the flag was seen like that and was moving forward. The otherway, and it would be seen that they were withdrawing or running away. Not sure if that is true, but it's just what I heard.

[shrek]

We might have had velcro on both shoulders and put them on the wrong one accidentally but which shoulder it went on officially was enforced!


The flag is always waving as we advance baby! Put the flag on backwards and we would be the French! (no offense Frenchies)

[ElHombre]

this is based on my recollection of a conversation i had many years ago. treat it with a grain of salt.

IIRC, unit patches first became widespread during WW1. they were put onto the left sleeve as the british did. this became enshrined in the regulations. it wasn't until fairly recently that national flags came to be placed on the uniform and by then the location of the unit patch had become enshrined in tradition.

this wasn't the first time that unit patches had been used in the US. during the ACW, the individual corps in the union army had a distintive insignia. divisions within each corps used a different color of this insignia. (the insignia themselves were things such as diamonds, circles, moons, etc.) what is regarded as the southern flag (with its blue, star-filled X on a red field), had its beginning as the official flag of lee's army of northen virginia. it was only later in the war that it came to be the flag of the entire rebellion.