Along with the many questions I receive about medals award to Australians I also get some enquiries about military history in general. In recent times I've received a number of questions about the colour patches that have been worn, and continue to be, by Australian soldiers. In cases like this I refer them to the web site of my friend Phil:
As a result of this increased interest in colour patches, Phil has kindly given me permission to republish his web page which gives the history of colour patches.
The
Australian Army wore colour patches from 1915 to 1950, as a means of
distinguishing units. In July, 1987 it was decided to permit the wearing
of colour patches again, on the puggaree of the hat khaki fur felt; the
decision was influenced primarily by the need to foster the Army's
heritage.
Two series of Unit Colour Patches (UCP) are approved for the Australian Army:
a. Series I are the patches of units of the 1st AIF and the whole Army from 1921 to 1949.
These
are worn by units which have established their lineage and similarity
of role to those earlier units. A small number of these patches have
been used as a base for Series II patches for organisational reasons,
others as a basis of completing pattern gaps to provide continuing
heritage; these patches are referred to as Series I (Extended).
b.
Series II, introduced in 1995, is based largely on the colour
combinations of Series I which indicated headquarters, corps and some
functions. These are arranged as square base patches identifying
Headquarters Australian Defence Force (Air Commander), Army Headquarters
and the functional command headquarters. Smaller overlayed shapes in
various colours identify uniquely non-corps units under command of those
headquarters, and corps units respectively. These patches are worn by
units which have not established lineage and similarity of role for a
Series I patch.
Entitlement
to the wearing of a Series I colour patch is subject to substantial
evidence being produced as to clear and direct lineage from a World War l
or World War 2 headquarters, unit or independent sub-unit which had an
approved colour patch, and a role similar to the present day unit.
Granting of the entitlement must be shown to be a factor in
significantly enhancing unit esprit-de-corps and morale.
As of May 2012, 97 Series I colour patches have been approved for wear.
The
uniquely Australian system of colour patches may have been inspired
through the South African War 1899-1902 by some British Army units
wearing small cloth patches in colours or tartans appropriate to their
regiment on the puggarees of their pith helmets. The Australian system
however, was an extension of the system of small flags nine inches
square allowed by Headquarters 1st Australian Division in 1914 to mark
headquarters and unit lines; AIF Order No. 10 issued in Melbourne on 5
September 1914 provided for these flags in colours, which, with several
minor changes, were the basis of the 1st Division's colour patches.
Divisional Order No. 61 issued at Mena, Egypt on 6 March 1915 indicated:
'Badges 562.
In order the better to distinguish the several units of the Division,
coloured patches of cloth 1 1/4 inches wide by 2 3/4 inches long will be
worn on the sleeve one inch below the shoulder seam. Except in cases of
Headquarters of Brigades and the Divisional Artillery, the Engineers
and Army Medical Corps, badges will consist of two colours, the lower
indicating the formation, the upper the unit etc. Light Horse (4th Light
Horse) and Artillery badges will be divided diagonally, the others
horizontally.'
(A table giving the layout in detail followed)
Later
in 1915, 1st Division Standing Orders paragraph 35(ii) re-promulgated
colour patch detail amending the artillery identification to one colour
patch only for all divisional artillery, of crimson over royal blue in a
diagonal setting, and replacing the yellow as the colour of the second
battalion in each brigade with purple. The Headquarters 1st Brigade
colour patch was a green horizontal rectangle, and its battalions (1,
2, 3 and 4) black, purple, brown and white over green divided
horizontally. The same system applied to the 2nd Brigade, whose brigade
colour was red, with battalions numbered 5 to 8, and to the 3rd Brigade
whose brigade colour was light blue, with battalions numbered 9 to 12.
Divisional engineers and the signals company wore a purple colour patch,
the divisional 'train' (Army Service Corps) dark blue over white and
medical corps chocolate. Later divisional unit colour patches were the
pioneer battalion wearing a white patch with a purple centre, machine
gun companies (later battalions) wearing a black patch with a yellow
centre, ordnance dark blue with a red centre, pay corps blue with a gold
centre and veterinary maroon. The divisional headquarters patch was
black with a white centre. Machine gun units also wore 'crossed guns' in
yellow cloth directly below their colour patch, and trench mortar
batteries a grenade in blue worsted embroidery directly below the
divisional artillery patch if medium mortars, below the brigade
headquarters patch if light mortars.
The
4th Brigade, raised separately and never part of the 1st Division,
gained approval from Headquarters Australian and New Zealand Division in
March 1915 to wear colour patches on the left side of the helmet
puggaree, or cap or hat band, the patch measuring l 1/2 inches by 2 1/2
inches, as a horizontal rectangle. The Brigade colour was dark blue and
the upper/battalion colours as for the 1st Division; because however,
the black and purple of 13 and 14 Battalions over the Brigade dark blue
base caused confusion with the Brigade Headquarters' patch, the upper
colours for these battalions were changed to light blue and yellow
respectively. The Brigade later conformed to the 1st Division method of
wearing the patches at the head of the sleeves of jackets.
As
other divisions of the 1st AIF were formed, they were allocated
distinctive divisional shapes -diamond for the 2nd, horizontal oval
(sometimes described as ellipse) for the 3rd, circle for the 4th and
vertical rectangle for the 5th. The 6th Division, partly formed in
England in 1917 to provide reinforcements for the other divisions, but
later disbanded before it saw action, was to have worn a vertical oval
patch. The 4th Brigade retained its original rectangle patches although
allotted to the 4th Division; other anomalies were the 12th Brigade of
the 4th Division, which had a dark blue brigade colour with consequent
adjustments to the colours of its first and second battalions (45 and
46), and the 8th Brigade allotted to the 5th Division which had yellow
as the brigade colour.
The
light horse brigades followed the horizontal rectangle shape, with the
exception of the Headquarters (only) of the 4th Light Horse Brigade and
the whole of the 5th Light Horse Brigade, which used a triangle shape.
All colours being separated diagonally, brigade headquarters and
brigade/lower colours were, for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Brigades
respectively white, red, yellow and dark blue. 5th Brigade also used
red, but in the triangle patch. The upper/unit colours in each brigade
were, for the regiments in seniority, light blue, green and black, and
for the brigade machine gun squadrons, field ambulances and veterinary
sections, respectively purple, chocolate and maroon.
Nearly
300 colour patches were authorised during World War 1, some initially
by divisional orders, the majority later by AIF Orders; included were a
number of colour patches later amended or cancelled.
In 1921, Military Order 206/21 indicated as follows:
(1)
The new organisation (CMF) being based on the AIF, authority has been
granted to Citizen Forces to wear Regimental Colour Patches on the
jacket, similar to those worn by units of corresponding designation of
the AIF
(2)
The above privilege has been accorded to the Citizen Forces, but
ex-members of the AIF serving in Citizen Forces will wear in addition
the colour badge (sic) (in miniature) of the unit with which they last
served in the AIF. (... to be worn 1/2 inch above the Citizen Force
colour patch)
Standing
Orders for Clothing 1922, including a colour plate, formally authorised
'Distinguishing Colour Patches'. Later authorities were Standing Orders
for Clothing 1925, Standing Orders for Dress 1931, and finally Standing
Orders for Dress 1935 with later amendments. Some 180 colour patches,
primarily those of the AIF, were depicted in the colour plate issued
with the 1935 Orders; included however were nine Permanent Troops, two
Fortress Troops and eleven non-divisional unit colour patches, apart
from the two cavalry and five infantry divisions.
On
the outbreak of World War 2 and the raising of a 2nd AIF, it appears
that 2nd AIF units may have initially adopted the colour patches of
their identically numbered or designated 1st AIF forbears, in the
absence of any formal instructions. However, probably in April or May
1940 and partly due to the number of battalions in brigades being
reduced from four to three, an instruction was issued allocating grey
background colour patches to 2nd AIF units and giving infantry
battalions colour patches by shapes and upper and lower colours
indicating the divisional, brigade and battalion seniority of their 2nd
AIF grouping. This resulted in a significant number of battalions
wearing colour patches unrelated to those of their 1st AIF forbears. For
example, the 2/14th Battalion, at that time being the senior battalion
of the 'third' brigade of the 'second' division of the 2nd AIF (the 7th
Division), was allotted a diamond-shaped black over light blue patch on
the grey background; the black over light blue diamond was the colour
patch of 25 Battalion 1st AIF, while 14 Battalion 1st AIF wore a yellow
over dark blue horizontal rectangle. There is considerable evidence of
this instruction's impact in unit war diaries and official histories,
however, no copy of the authority, believed to be an Army Headquarters
(AHQ) Director of Ordnance Services instruction with colour plates, has
yet been located in searches of Australian War Memorial and Australian
Archives holdings of AHQ files of April-May 1940.
As
a result of representations to members of Parliament by 1st AIF
associations and the RSL, this anomaly was corrected in October-November
1940 by the issue of another instruction, probably again by AHQ
Director of Ordnance Services. The colour plates assumed to have been
issued with the instruction would have depicted divisional-shaped grey
background patches (6th horizontal rectangle, 7th diamond, 8th
horizontal oval and 9th circle), with battalion colour patches
conforming with those of the 1st AIF forbear superimposed. These
battalion patches were half-size where the divisional and battalion
patch shapes were different, and in full size yet showing a 1/4 inch
grey background where the shapes were similar. Due to a significant
variety of different shaped patches resulting from regroupings, the 9th
Australian division in 1943 was given authority (General Routine Order
(GRO) 225/43) to wear the distinctive ‘T' patches which in effect also
commemorated the major part played by the division in the Siege of
Tobruk. These colour patches were illustrated, with two minor errors
(2/28 and 2/48 Battalions), in Appendix 4 to 'To Benghazi' by Gavin Long
(Australia in the War of 1939-45 Series 1 (Army) Volume 1).
By
the end of 1944, close to 600 colour patches had been introduced during
World War 2, not including changes in colour patch by the addition of
the 2nd AIF grey background by militia units transferring to the 2nd
AIF. Because of complexities that had arisen, the C in C AMF directed
eventual adoption, except for headquarters, artillery 'branches',
armoured, cavalry and infantry units, of colour patches of elongated
horizontal rectangle shape, to indicate only the corps or 'service' of
the wearer. These were promulgated in 1945, but it appears that many
units had not adopted them by the time the war had ended. A small number
of colour patches were approved for the Occupation Force for Japan in
1945 and 1946.
Authorities
for colour patches in World War 2 included, to a limited degree
Standing Orders for Dress 1935 as amended, AHQ instructions issued
principally by the Director of Ordnance Services, and AIF (Middle East)
GEO until 1942. In that year GRO issued by AHQ were introduced as
authorities and until 1946, when Military Board Instructions (MBI) were
used.
Whilst
there are some claims that about 3000 colour patches had been approved
over the 35 years they were worn, there is no evidence for more than
about nine hundred, from the authorities issued, checked against AHQ
file drawings and the Australian War Memorial's extensive records.
However, there is no doubt that some colour patches were worn without
authority, and that some authorised colour patches were never worn. The
Australian colour patch system was discarded in 1950 in favour of the
British Army system of shoulder titles, formation signs and lanyards.
Colour
patches were worn at the head of the sleeves of jackets and greatcoats
in World War 1. Between the wars it appears from authorities that they
were worn only on jackets. In World War 2 they were worn as in World War
l, except that wear on the right side of the puggaree of the hat khaki
fur felt was authorised in 1940, and later on berets beside but
rearwards of the badge; miniature colour patches were approved at
members' expense and worn above the unit patch (but not on headgear), to
indicate previous AIF service. Those who had served at Anzac or in the
line of communication from Egypt to Anzac were entitled to wear a small
brass letter 'A' on the colour patch of their 1st AIF unit.
All
told, some 30 different shapes were used, generally to indicate the
organisational location of a headquarters or unit. The shapes of the
infantry division patches have already been described, with the
exception of the 11th Division which had a horizontal arrowhead. The
headquarters of the two cavalry division (later 'motor' in World War 2)
used respectively a triangle (1st) 2nd a square (2nd). The three
armoured divisions of World War 2 employed shapes of respectively an
inverted shield, a shield and a combination of both. Notwithstanding
this, some armoured regiments and the 4th Armoured Brigade wore patches
shaped like World War 1 tanks. Corps headquarters and corps troops units
generally wore triangle patches, while higher headquarters and units
not allotted to corps or divisions generally wore square patches.
Colours
used totalled about thirty, depending on the variations in the
description of similar colours in various authorities. Generally for
units they indicated the corps and/or function. For headquarters other
than divisional, they indicated seniority in like-headquarters e.g. the
different arrangement of the same colours for Headquarters 1st and 2nd
armies, and varying upper colours over the light green used to indicate
Headquarters Line of Communication (L of C) areas in sequence e.g.
Queensland, NSW, Victoria etc. As well as corps colours used by
divisional units described previously, survey units used various
arrangements of purple and white arranged vertically, and signals units,
from 1922, were identified by a miniature white over sky blue
horizontal rectangle superimposed on their original 'engineer' purple
patches. In World War 2, the extensive Order of Battle of hospitals and
specialist medical units saw an expanded use of the chocolate patch,
superimposed with various colours in different shapes. Dental units used
burnt orange as their identifying colour, while EME unit colours were
scarlet superimposed with dark blue, and military police (then
'provost') had black patches superimposed with white chevrons,
originally designed as boomerangs. Garrison battalion’s colours were
black, superimposed with various shapes in green. There were many other
colour combinations denoting specialist units of various types. Green
and yellow were the colours used for army schools at various levels.
The sizes of colour patches of World War 1 were generally larger than those of World War 2.
The
World War 2 square patch for example had 38mm sides, with an additional
5mm grey border if 2nd AIF. The 11th Division's horizontal arrowhead
was overall 78mm long and 50mm high, as an example of a larger patch.
The
colour patch system was never designed to confuse the enemy, and colour
patches did not appear to have been worn in action after the Middle
East campaigns of World War 2. There is no doubt that the system
confused some of those who wore colour patches, but there was never any
requirement for personnel to remember the detail of the system; usually
units grouped together in formations came to recognise the colour
patches of their sister units, their higher headquarters and flanking
formations. Senior military police of World War 2 have affirmed,
however, that the task of identifying and controlling troops in transit
and on leave (at the peak of enlistments in World War 2 the Australian
Army totalled almost 400,000 personnel) would have been impossible
without the colour patch system.
The
main problems of the system could be summarized as the failure to plan
for a complete Army ORBAT, the issue of new colour patches to reflect
changes in grouping, changing designs and colours to show a new
function, and the desire to have left and right patches on the heads of
sleeves presenting the same colour to the front where colours were
divided vertically or diagonally.
Notwithstanding
its problems, the Australian soldier became intensely attached to his
unit colour patch, as evidenced by association banners on Anzac Day
marches. The Australian Corps Commander in World War 1, Lieutenant
General Sir John Monash, recorded in his book 'Australian Victories in
France 1918' that 'the private soldier valued his battalion colour patch
almost more than any other decoration.' It is this heritage that the
Army seeks to enhance with the re-introduction of colour patches 73
years after they were first worn.
