Kaufman Uniform Reference Collection – USAAF Squadron Patches

The Kaufman Military Uniform Reference Collection

U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF)
WWII issue Leather Squadron Patches

One of the rarest categories of all United States military insignia are original U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) WWII issue leather squadron patches such as the examples photographed here.

These were designed and manufactured in accordance with strict U.S. Government guidelines and worn with great pride by both flight and ground crews throughout the war all over the world. The reader may be surprised to learn that these beautifully painted, handmade 4-inch diameter patches were officially an ‘issue item’ and as such were required to be sewn on to all leather flight jackets for the purpose of unit identification.

The design of each patch was often the work of a famous art studio in the United States. The Walt Disney Studio in Burbank, California is perhaps the best known, and it eventually designed hundreds of these insignia as its contribution to the war effort. Once the completed design was approved for use by the Department of Heraldry in Washington, D.C., the actual leather patches were stamped out and the highly detailed artwork was painstakingly rendered by hand.

As the war progressed, many AAF personnel stationed overseas in the Orient had their unit patches copied, where it was common practice to have the more intricate design elements cut out in various shades of leather and sewn in layers one on top of the other. The ‘leather on leather’ application added to the beauty of the original design. Three of the four leather patches visible on the AAF A-2 flight jacket in the photograph below were actually made by hand using this elaborate technique.

All of the leather patches photographed in this section are original from the period and serve as superb examples of the art form, and yet surprisingly, not one of them was ever issued or worn! Instead, each one of these was actually a ‘contractor’s sample’ used by a U.S. Government approved leather-craft manufacturer, which accounts for their extraordinary like-new condition.

Today, leather squadron patches such as these are cherished not only as prized WWII military collectibles, but as beautiful examples of American (wartime) artwork in their own right.