Behind the ‘Force’: A history of the insignia and regalia of the Army Special Forces part III

With this expansion, it was now possible to resuscitate plans to reinstate the branch insignia of the 1stSSF in a form representative of a modern U.S. Army Special Forces capability. In addition, rather than attempt to reinstate the red, white and blue garrison cap cord of the Force, it was proposed that the green beret be officially authorized instead. Despite the existing groups wearing the green beret unofficially, it would still be an uphill battle to get proper government sanctioning to wear the beret. 

While that battle continued, Lieutenant-Colonel James S. Cook Jr., U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, was assigned to be the Chief, Heraldic Branch, R&E (Research & Development) Division of the Quartermaster Branch. He was directly involved with the first steps in creating a Coat of Arms and DUI for the 1st Special Forces Regiment. In his work to establish a lineage, he noted that the 1st Special Service Force and the 2nd Infantry Battalion already had designs of DUIs prepared. The example drawn up for the 1st Special Service Force consisted of their famous Case V-42 fighting knife ardent on a white shield. 

However, on Jan. 2, 1943 War Department Circular #6, Section IV, paragraph 1 prohibited the manufacture of DUI in order to preserve vital materials. Since the Force was disbanded in Southern France at the end of 1944, it ceased to exist before the rescinding of the January 1943 directive. Therefore, the DUI was never manufactured. 

Cook then proposed on Jan. 26, 1960 that the new 1st Special Forces Regiment adopt the Coat of Arms of the 1stSSF with a few modifications. In order to create a new branch insignia or DUI, he simply proposed using a slightly smaller version of the gold crossed arrow branch insignia of the 1stSSF in silver. He also proposed that the new 1st Special Forces Regiment adopt the motto of the 2nd Infantry Battalion PRIMUS BELLO: 

“a. Approve re-designation of coat of arms of the 1st Special Service Force to 1st Special Forces with addition of crest and motto. 

b. Approve motto “PRIMUS BELLO” (First in Battle), used by the 2nd Infantry Battalion, for the 1st Special Forces. 

c. Approve former branch insignia with color changed from gold to silver as crest of coat of arms. 

d. Approve former branch insignia with color changed from gold to silver (same as recommended for crest) as distinctive unit insignia for the 1st Special Forces. 

e. Approve exception of policy regarding size of distinctive insignia to permit the insignia to be used in the original design.”   

By March 9 Cook and his team were able to draft a Coat of Arms which consisted of the crossed arrows situated above the design of the proposed WWII 1stSSF DUI. However, they learned that there was some difficulty authorizing the use of the PRIMUS BELLO motto because the 2nd Infantry Battalion had not been officially granted its use. 

In the meantime, it was decided that rather than just reinstate the former branch insignia of the 1stSSF in silver, another design was drafted that consisted of a vertical silver Case V-42 knife superimposed over silver crossed arrows overlaid on to a black enamel scroll edged in silver. The scroll was split at the bottom to accept the handle of the knife. It, too, was to incorporate the motto PRIMUS BELLO in silver lettering. The top of the scrolling was pierced at either side to make it look as though it was rolling away from the top of the knife blade. This inadvertently gave the appearance of two skulls facing each other. Some collectors refer to this detail as “kissing or opposed skulls.” 

During Cook’s delving into insignia adopted by the 10th and 77th, he also suggested that the teal blue of the 77th be the official color adopted by the new branch and suggested that its flags be made using this color. 

With the PRIMUS BELLO motto still up in the air, he took notice of the short and simple motto of the 10th Group. He then suggested that the flags should use the “Motto: “DE OPPRESSO LIBER” (Liberate from Oppression). Translation more fully means, “From oppression we will liberate them.” This motto is symbolic of the mission of Special Forces units. 

Apart from not yet being able to use the PRIMUS BELLO motto, it was clarified on May 19 that the drawing of March 16 was not liked by the COs of 1st, 7th and 10th Groups because its silver, white and black coloring was considered to be too dull. The design of the knife was also criticized for not looking like a V-42.

It must be noted that drawings were still being drafted and discussions continued into May 1960. With no answer yet on the PRIMUS BELLO motto, Cook suggested that the motto DE OPPRESSO LIBER be used instead on the proposed branch insignia DUI. Despite no additional drawings being found, it is likely that this proposed change meant that additional drawings were made incorporating this motto into the 16 March draft drawing. 

However, articles published on the 1st Special Forces DUI suggest that Heraldry and the OQMG jumped from the 16 March drawing directly to the final authorized drawing made on July 8, 1960. The addition of the new motto DE OPPRESSO LIBER meant that the design of the scroll had to be changed to incorporate its length. Therefore the vertical positioning of the V-42 knife was raised in order to make room for the lower part of the scroll to incorporate the entire motto. In other words, the scrolling was no longer separated into two parts. Complaints about the design of the knife meant that it was revised to make it look more like the V-42. The piercings or holes at the top were also removed. 

The problem with this chronology of events is that the DUI’s actually manufactured in 1960/61 are not based on the authorized July 8 drawing, but a combination of the March 8 and 16 July drawings with the new motto. This suggests that there must have been another drawing between March and July that was actually sent to the manufacturers. Was this an official specification drawing from Heraldry and the OQMG or was it a missing drawing from somewhere in the middle of the process that somehow got leaked to insignia manufacturers? Perhaps by a commander of one of the groups who was impatient to get examples of the insignia? Remember, the 10th Group was the only group with an actual cap badge. The 77th, now the 7th Group, only had their DUI, parachute badges and parachute badge trimming. The 1st Group had no insignia other than that retained from the 77th Group. 

The DUI manufactured in 1960/61 or Type 1, as well as all later types, was made of two pieces. There was the base or silver and enamel scroll and the knife and crossed arrow overlay. The overlay was soldered or sweated to the base. The Type 1 retained the piercings or holes at the top and the original design of the knife with crossed arrows however the scrolling was continuous and incorporated the motto DE OPPRESSO LIBER. The font of the letters used for the motto on all types of the U.S. Army Special Forces Regiment DUI  are slightly different depending on the manufacturer. 

The Type 1 DUI was not manufactured by one company but several. They are marked on the back with a coded manufacturer mark devised by the Office of the Quartermaster General and the Institute of Heraldry. Known manufacturers of the Type 1 are as follows:

— Denmark’s Military Equipment Corp. of Astoria, N.Y. or New York, N.Y. impressed with the 6D manufacturer’s code (figure 72 and 73)

— NS. Meyer, New York, N.Y. found with a raised mark of 9M within a shield motif

— General Merchandising Co. of Milford, Connecticut found with the impressed GEMSCO mark.

Examples of the General Merchandising Co. badges are also found without any maker mark or code. There is also an unmarked German made example. The German example differs in detail from the U.S. manufactured types by not having piercings/holes at the top but only indents enameled in black to give the impression of piercings/holes. The detail of the silver and enamel scroll where it curls at the mid-point of the insignia is also slightly different. The posts for the clutch fasteners on the back are the typical German “nail” types with a large circular base. 

This was not the first time that manufacturers produced a badge for Special Forces that did not match the final authorized design. The same occurred back in 1942 when the manufacturer subcontracted by military outfitter A.H. Dondero used the original tentative drawings provided by Colonel Frederick in September to manufacture the 1stSSF officer’s gold crossed arrow branch insignia. Even the enlisted mans version manufactured by the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot did not comply. 

Shortly after on October 23 the OQMG at the War Department published under AR 600-35 (C 4) PERSONNEL PRESCRIBED SERVICE UNIFORM “Changes No.4.” that included the final design of the 1stSSF branch insignia approved by the Adjutant General on October 6, 1942. Although the original design of the officer’s branch insignia included 16 feathers per arrow, the newly authorized design only included 14 feathers per arrow. The officially authorized design of the enlisted mans branch insignia was supposed to be “of the screw-post two-piece type.” However the insignia manufactured was stamped and held to the lapel by two clutch fasteners. Neither of the officially authorized specifications were manufactured during the war. 

Since manufacturers had already begun mass production of the pierced Type 1 DUI, the officially authorized version shown in the July 8 drawing were not produced until the Type 1 badges were largely phased out. It is interesting to note, however, that one manufacturer attempted to circumvent the cost of completely replacing their Type 1 dies by simply doing away with the piercing process and remodeling the top of the scrolling. In the movie “The Green Berets”, released in 1968, a screen capture of Medical Sergeant “Doc” McGee, played by Raymond St. Jacques, shows him wearing this Type 1 modification or Type 1 (b). 

Oddly enough, while the design of the DUI was being sorted out, the headdress it was to be worn on was still unofficial. While the new 1st Special Forces DUI was worn on the epaulettes, it was also desired that it serve as a cap badge. 

The green beret will not be officially authorized by the Department of the Army until a year after the DUI began production. Back in January 1960 Brigadier-General William P. Yarborough became Commanding General of the Special Warfare Center at Bragg. He will join Colonel Raff and other officers of the existing groups in their campaign to get the beret officially authorized. What put them over the top was Yarborough’s success in recruiting President John F. Kennedy to the cause. Therefore, on Sept. 25, 1961, the Department of the Army finally authorized the Green Beret as the official headdress of the U.S. 1st Special Forces. Kennedy commented in 1962 that it was, “a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom.” After official authorization to wear the green beret reached the OQMG, specifications for an authorized design were sent to manufacturers in the U.S. to provide a supply to the various groups. The Canadian made berets and these examples will replace the earlier beret worn by the 10th Group in Germany. 

Shortly after the beret was authorized and the Type 1 DUI could be worn as a beret badge, the 1st, 7th and 10th Group adopted colored beret flashes in the shape of a shield that were sewn directly to the green beret behind the DUI. They were authorized in 1961. The Special Warfare Center wore a white shield, the 7th red, the 10th alpine green and the 1st yellow with a thin black inner border. After the 5th Group was formed that same year, it wore a black shield with a thin white border. However, after it took over Special Forces operations in Vietnam it added the yellow and red stripes of the colors of the flag of the RVN. They ran diagonally from the left upper corner of the shield to the lower right corner.

Despite now having their berets and DUI, the story of the DUI continued to develop. Once the manufacture of the Type 1 design was phased out, it was to be replaced by the version found in the authorized July 8, 1960 drawing.  

The Type 2 consisted of a revised overlay where the knife now resembled the Case V-42. The top of the base of the badge, or scroll, no longer had the holes or piercings doing away with the “opposed” or “kissing” skulls. It retained the motto DE OPRESSO LIBER. 

The first production of the Type 2 was publicized in a photograph taken on July 17, 1962 showing Brigadier General William P. Yarborough holding the new badges alongside the manager of the library of the Special Warfare Center Captain McCulloch Wilson. They were manufactured by the Denmark’s Military Equipment Corporation in New York. The early date of the insignia is made evident by Denmark’s 6D code being visible on the back.

What is interesting about the Type 2 in comparison to the Type 1 is the overlay of knife and arrows on the Type 1 is simply soldered/sweated over top of the base/scroll while special slots or channels are incorporated into the base/scroll of the Type 2. Like a model kit, the arrows were to fit snuggly into these slots/channels as they are soldered/sweated to the base/scroll. In addition, to protect the arrow heads and feather detail that previously stuck out from either side of the Type 1 insignia, the base was now molded to provide a platform that the arrow heads and feathers could rest on. These additions to the base/scroll took on the pointed shape of the arrow heads and the detail of the ends of the arrows. These modifications were added to the Type 2 because it was discovered that the ends of the arrows on the Type 1 were easily bent or broken off. 

Prior to 1964 all manufacturers’ codes were comprised of a single digit and single letter. After that time all manufacturers’ codes were to be changed to a letter and double digit code. The Denmark’s Type 2 with 6D code differs from later batches of the Type 2 in not having a very wide silver border to either side of the channels that end up framing the arrows and feathers. It is also the only example of 1st Special Forces DUI where the base/scroll is molded to include the protrusion for the entire feather overlay to rest on. All other examples of the Type 2 will only have a base molded for the arrow heads to rest on. 

By the end of 1963, when Denmark’s was required to change their manufacturer code to D-22, they took the opportunity to widen the silver border to either side of the channels for the arrows and feathers. This now left a more noticeable silver border framing the arrows. Unlike the Type 2 with the base molded to include the appearance of an impressed or indented 6D code, the newer Denmark’s Type 2 had a D-22 code in raised relief molded on to the reverse. Ira Green of New York also made an almost identical Type 2 as Denmark’s with their G-23 code found in raised relief on the reverse. The new Type 2 badges were unique and were only manufactured for a short period. 

In another odd anomaly, the manufacturer N.S. Meyer of New York went to all the trouble of changing its dies in 1964/65 to include the new raised single letter and double digit manufacturer code but did not switch its design from the Type 1 to the Type 2. This might explain why examples of the Type 2 badge are not found manufactured by NS. Meyer but the later Type 3 is. 

The Type 2 began to be replaced by 1965/66. The vast expansion of the 1st Special Forces in the 1960s likely resulted in the Type 2 being dropped in order to economize, simplify and therefore increase production. The silver bordered slots/channels for the arrows were done away with and, like the Type 1 badges, the overlay was simply soldered/sweated to rest over the base/scroll. The Type 3 was the final design and continues to be worn today.  

The Denmark’s early Type 3 examples with large raised D-22 code continued to have a base/scroll molded to include protrusions/points that the arrow heads could rest on. The overlay does not hang over the edge of the base/scroll as far as on earlier examples. Regardless, it is also molded to include a small protrusion for the feathers to rest on. It appears as though all Type 3 have this feature. Later Denmark’s Type 3 that appears in the 1970s has a smaller D-22 code in raised relief. Collectors cards of actual Green Beret activities printed in 1966 show members of the new 5th Group wearing the Type 3 design and a screen capture from the 1968 movie The Green Berets shows Master Sergeant Muldoon (Played by Aldo Ray) wearing the Type 3 design on his 7th Group beret.  

The same manufacturers that made the earlier types also made the new Type 3 design up until the end of this article in 1971. They were Denmark’s D-22, Ira Green G-23, General Merchandising Company G-22 and N.S. Meyer New York, N.Y. M-22 within a shield mark. Although the author has not yet seen evidence, it is also possible that Crest Craft Co. Cincinnati, Ohio C-23 and A.H. Dondero Co. Washington D-21 also made the Type 3. More modern examples also include S-28 and most also include a “Made in USA” mark on the back. 

In addition to the “issue” manufactured DUIs available from the United States; we know that at least one manufacturer in Germany made the Type 1. It is possible they also made examples of the Type 2 & 3 design. A example with what can loosely be described as screw-post fasteners was supposedly made in Germany however it has been found on the berets of veterans of the National Guard Special Forces groups suggesting it is actually a U.S. manufacture. In addition, since the U.S. Special Forces served all over the world from 1960 until 1975, examples are known to have also been made for private sale in Japan/Okinawa where the 1st Group was based, as well as Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. They also sold souvenirs such as lighters with the design of the various types manufactured in the U.S. 

Obviously, the men deployed to Vietnam under the 5th Group wore the U.S. types over their group flash. However, both theater-made DUI’s and beret flashes were sold from shops in Japan and the RVN. As for what was sold in Vietnam, what collectors usually find are what are referred to as “beer can” DUI’s. They were made by etching the design of the DUI into aluminum salvaged from the mountains of beer cans left by thirsty U.S. troops. Although the author has seen them applied to plaques, zippo lighters and other souvenirs, they are also found worn on the beret. However, this was not a common occurrence. 

In addition to various commemorative items and the continuing practice of manufacturing challenge coins, the original design of the Trojan horse beret badge of the 10th Group lives on in the design of the DUI and SSI of the 1st Special Operations Command (1st SOCOM) established at Fort Bragg in 1982. 

{Editors Note: This is the third installment of a three-part series from author Ken Joyce detailing the history and collectibles from U.S. Special Forces}. 

Behind the 'Force' Part II: A history of the insignia and regalia of the Army Special Forces

Behind the 'Force': A history of insignia and regalia of the Army Special Forces

We know you love old cars, but do you collect anything else? Ever wonder about the baseball cards in a box in the basement or Grandma’s old coins in a jar?  Do you love history or spin vinyl? Head on over to Collect.com and see what you are missing. Collect.com is the who, what, when and where of the collecting world! https://www.collect.com/