Help ID a patch - possibly military? Sigforum does it again!! Obscure rank insignia from WWI Home Guard Unit
A friend is asking for help identifying these patches they found, thinking they were possibly military. I've never seen anything like them as far as rank or other US military insignia. Any ideas?
Not to add any extra pressure, but here's the exchange when I told the wife I was posting it here:
This message has been edited. Last edited by: BamaJeepster,
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” - John Adams
May 02, 2019, 02:08 PM
flashguy
Look to me like Velcro® patches, possibly to enable attaching things?
flashguy
Texan by choice, not accident of birth
May 02, 2019, 03:01 PM
StarTraveler
A very early idea for the International Harvester symbol?
"Aut viam inveniam aut faciam (I will either find a way or make one)." -- Hannibal Barca
May 02, 2019, 03:30 PM
BamaJeepster
Anything is possible...It could be velcro strips like flashguy said or some kind of logo, that pic is all I have to go on. It very well may not be related to military at all.
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” - John Adams
May 02, 2019, 03:43 PM
Sig209
former Army guy
I got nothing
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Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
May 02, 2019, 04:06 PM
83v45magna
Related to scouting maybe?
Closest I found would be a "Cross of Salem", but it's not quite right. Or maybe it is. The patches kind of look like the center cross is verrry slightly longer, right?
Also known as a pontifical cross because it is carried before the Pope, is similar to a patriarchal cross, but with an additional crossbar below the main crossbar, equal in length to the upper crossbar.
May 02, 2019, 04:10 PM
Rightwire
quote:
Originally posted by 83v45magna: Related to scouting maybe?
If so it predates me in the program.
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May 02, 2019, 04:16 PM
Ronin1069
I am wondering if they are related to the railroad somehow?
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May 02, 2019, 06:49 PM
10-7 leo
It's a warning- snitches get stitches.
Sic Semper Tyrannis If you beat your swords into plowshares, you will become farmers for those who didn't! Political Correctness is fascism pretending to be Manners-George Carlin
May 02, 2019, 06:55 PM
P220 Smudge
More context could help. Were these found in the belongings of a deceased family member of a certain age and background, or found with any other items that could date them? Or were they found at a yard sale without any other info than what we’re being given?
______________________________________________ Carthago delenda est
May 02, 2019, 06:55 PM
BamaJeepster
Great suggestions...Thanks for the replies!
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” - John Adams
May 02, 2019, 07:10 PM
motor59
Looks a bit like the insignia for a past Most Eminent Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar, but the colors are wrong. Maybe there was a summer white uniform for them?
suaviter in modo, fortiter in re
May 02, 2019, 07:12 PM
Bisleyblackhawk
quote:
Originally posted by 10-7 leo: It's a warning- snitches get stitches.
Your post made me think...I wonder if they might be patches to identify a first aid bag containing a suture kit?
"we've gotta roll with the punches, learn to play all of our hunches Making the best of what ever comes our way Forget that blind ambition and learn to trust your intuition Plowing straight ahead come what may And theres a cowboy in the jungle" Jimmy Buffet
May 02, 2019, 07:22 PM
PASig
They are definitely not Army patches.
Maybe some sort of Naval rating if they are military at all?
May 02, 2019, 09:49 PM
Doc H.
I'm in the Velcro camp. If they were actual insignia or emblems, you wouldn't think all the cross-stitching would be visible. What's the other side look like?
"And gentlemen in England now abed, shall think themselves accursed they were not here, and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispin's Day"
May 02, 2019, 09:57 PM
P220 Smudge
quote:
Originally posted by Doc H.: I'm in the Velcro camp. If they were actual insignia or emblems, you wouldn't think all the cross-stitching would be visible. What's the other side look like?
If it were Velcro, why wouldn’t it be a block instead of a cruciform? Surface area and all that.
______________________________________________ Carthago delenda est
May 02, 2019, 10:16 PM
Doc H.
quote:
Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
quote:
Originally posted by Doc H.: I'm in the Velcro camp. If they were actual insignia or emblems, you wouldn't think all the cross-stitching would be visible. What's the other side look like?
If it were Velcro, why wouldn’t it be a block instead of a cruciform? Surface area and all that.
It comes in strips, something along these lines, perhaps to hold another insignia:
Now you would iron on or use a sticky backing, but back in the day you actually had to sew on Velcro strips, and I've used something like that myself, Velcro on a fabric backing that could be sewn on a uniform to attach Velcro-backed insignia. Could be something completely different, and as others noted, no indication of age or what else was associated with it.
"And gentlemen in England now abed, shall think themselves accursed they were not here, and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispin's Day"
May 03, 2019, 07:20 AM
SgtGold
Being khaki it's nothing recent for the US military. I can't get a capture with the URl, but if I could I'd put it in Tineye and see what pops up.
_____________________________ 'I'm pretty fly for a white guy'.
May 03, 2019, 07:44 AM
Eponym
I followed SgtGold's idea. TinEye found 0 results after searching over 34.0 billion images.
May 03, 2019, 07:49 AM
BamaJeepster
Thanks again for the help and suggestions.
The person got these at an estate sale - these were in a random box. The owner was born in 1890, and he and both his father and son were in the military, so that's why they thought they might be military related.
I was in the Army and have read extensively on military history and they didn't look like anything I had seen before, but I know this forum has probably seen everything with regards to militaria.
I did a Google image search and came up dry, here's a link to the original image and an image of just one of the patches, SgtGold:
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” - John Adams
This message has been edited. Last edited by: BamaJeepster, 
