Obsolete badges of the United States military are a number of U.S. military insignia which were issued in the 20th and early 21st centuries. After World War II many badges were phased out of the United States armed forces in favor of more modern military badges which are used today.
A limited number of badges were also issued in the 19th century. The oldest military badge on record dates to the time of the American Revolutionary War. The following is a listing of obsolete U.S. military badges and the time period, or branch of service, to which such badges were specific.
A unique obsolete badge situation occurred with General of the Air Force Henry H. Arnold, who in 1913 was among the 24 Army pilots to receive the first Military Aviator badge, an eagle bearing Signal Corps flags suspended from a bar. Replaced in 1917 by the more conventional "wings" embroidered design (authorized as an oxidized silver badge in 1921), Arnold displayed both types on his uniform throughout his career. The original Military Aviator design can be seen in pictures of him in uniform.
Read more about Obsolete Badges Of The United States Military: Revolutionary War, 1913-1926, Army Air Forces, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Navy, Joint Service
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“The sage belongs to the same obsolete repertory as the virtuous maiden and the enlightened monarch.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Whether our feet are compressed in iron shoes, our faces hidden with veils and masks; whether yoked with cows to draw the plow through its furrows, or classed with idiots, lunatics and criminals in the laws and constitutions of the State, the principle is the same; for the humiliations of the spirit are as real as the visible badges of servitude.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)
“We can beat all Europe with United States soldiers. Give me a thousand Tennesseans, and I’ll whip any other thousand men on the globe!”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“If the dignity as well as the prestige and influence of the United States are not to be wholly sacrificed, we must protect those who, in foreign ports, display the flag or wear the colors of this Government against insult, brutality, and death, inflicted in resentment of the acts of their Government, and not for any fault of their own.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)
“The military mind is indeed a menace. Old-fashioned futurity that sees only men fighting and dying in smoke and fire; hears nothing more civilized than a cannonade; scents nothing but the stink of battle-wounds and blood.”
—Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)