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Insignia of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam

      Throughout its roughly twenty year history literally hundreds of insignia designs were established for the formations of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) Armed Forces. The material presented on this page are all original pieces held in the collection of the Republic of Vietnam Historical Society, and pertain to the divisions and regiments of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). However, it is far from a complete overview, the divisional and regimental patches shown here represent only roughly half of those put into service. The exact number of insignia designs employed by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam is unknown. Divisional level patches were established for formations at divisional level, the number of which varied between divisions. At most an ARVN army regiment could have a general regimental patch, a headquarters patch, a scout/reconnaissance/strike company patch, and battalion patches, but this also varied between units. Some regiments had only a general regimental patch while others had only a general regimental and battalion patches. Designs for particular formations were also modified over time, resulting in a number of variations for the same unit. The material used for making insignia also varied. Patches could either be made of silk, printed on cotton, hand embroidered, or machine made, and could further be in color or subdued in olive drab/black. Enlisted personnel in most cases wore printed cotton insignia, and officers a mixture of the other three types with silk made being the most predominant.

      Divisional insignia was worn on the left sleeve, seven cetimeters below the shoulder seam. Regimental, battalion, and company insignia were worn on the pockets, with the right pocket being reserved for the higher level insignia. Most of the identifications below were made by Cecil B. Smyth in the 1970s, whose publications covering the insignia of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Vietnam remain the most profound cataloging of the subject.

 

Divisional Patches

1st Division

1st Division: Subdued

1st Division: Reconnaissance Battalion

1st Division: Strike Company

1st Division: Strike Company: Variation

1st Division: Strike Company: Variation

1st Division: Strike Company: Variation

2nd Division

2nd Division: Variation

3rd Division

3rd Division: Subdued

3rd Division: Variation

3rd Division: Variation: Subdued

3rd Division: Headquarters

5th Division

5th Divison: Headquarters

5th Division: Pocket Patch

5th Division: Pocket Patch: Variation

5th Division: Strike Company

7th Division

7th Division: Headquarters

9th Division

9th Division: Subdued

9th Division: Variation

9th Division:Headquarters

9th Division: Medical

9th Division:Reconnaissance Battalion

9th Division:Reconnaissance Battalion: Variation

9th Division: Signals

9th Division: Engineers

10th Division

18th Division

18th Division: Reconnaissance

18th Division: Reconnaissance Variant

21st Division

21st Divison: Unknown Unit

22nd Division

22nd Division:Scout Company

22nd Division: Reconnaissance

22nd Division: Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol

23rd Division

25th Division

23rd Infantry Division "Kontum Hero 1972"

25th Division:Subdued

Regimental Patches

1st Infantry Regiment

1st Infantry Regiment:Variation

1st Infantry Regiment:Variation

1st Infantry Regiment:Variation

1st Infantry Regiment:Variation

1st Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

1st Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion:Variation

1st Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion

1st Infantry Regiment:4th Battalion

2nd Infantry Regiment

2nd Infantry Regiment:Subdued

2nd Infantry Regiment:Variation

2nd Infantry Regiment:Variation:Subdued

2nd Infantry Regiment:"Batman" (Scout) Company

2nd Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

2nd Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion

2nd Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

2nd Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion:Variation

2nd Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion:Variation

3rd Infantry Regiment

3rd Infantry Regiment: Variation

3rd Infantry Regiment:Variation

3rd Infantry Regiment:Variation

3rd Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

3rd Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company:Variation

3rd Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

3rd Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion:Variation

3rd Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion

3rd Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

3rd Infantry Regiment:4th Battalion

4th Infantry Regiment

4th Infantry Regiment:Variation

4th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

6th Infantry Regiment

7th Infantry Regiment

7th Infantry Regiment:Variation

7th Infantry Regiment:Variation

8th Infantry Regiment

8th Infantry Regiment:Variation

8th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

9th Infantry Regiment

9th Infantry Regiment: Variation

10th Infantry Regiment

10th Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

10th Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion Variation

11th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

11th Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion

11th Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion:Variation

11th Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

12th Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

12th Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion

12th Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

12th Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion:Variation

12th Infantry Regiment:4th Battalion

12th Infantry Regiment:4th Battalion:Variation

13th Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

14th Infantry Regiment

14th Infantry Regiment:Strike Force

15th Infantry Regiment

15th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

15th Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

15th Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

16th Infantry Regiment

16th Infantry Regiment:Variation

16th Infantry Regiment:Variation

16th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

16th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company:Variation

16th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company:Variation

31st Infantry Regiment

31st Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

31st Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion: Variation

31st Infantry Regiment:4th Battalion

32nd Infantry Regiment

33rd Infantry Regiment

33rd Infantry Regiment:Headquarters

33rd Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

33rd Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

33rd Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion:Variation

33rd Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion

33rd Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

33rd Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion: Variation

33rd Infantry Regiment:4th Battalion

40th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

42nd Infantry Regiment

42nd Infantry Regiment: Reconnaissance

42nd Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

42nd Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion:Variation

42nd Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion

42nd Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

43rd Infantry Regiment

44th Infantry Regiment

44th Infantry Regiment:Task Force

45th Infantry Regiment

45th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

45th Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

45th Infantry Regiment:4th Battalion

47th Infantry Regiment

47th Infantry Regiment: Subdued

47th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

47th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company:Variation

47th Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion

47th Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

48th Infantry Regiment

48th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

48th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company:Variation

48th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company:Variation

48th Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

48th Infantry Regiment:2nd battalion

48th Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

51st Infantry Regiment

51st Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

51st Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

52nd Infantry Regiment

52nd Infantry Regiment Reconnaissance Company

53rd Infantry Regiment

53rd Infantry Regiment:Variation

54th Infantry Regiment

54th Infantry Regiment:Variation

54th Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

54th Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion

54th Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

54th Infantry Regiment:4th Battalion

56th Infantry Regiment

56th Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion

56th Infantry Regiment:1st Battalion: Variation

56th Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion

56th Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion

57th Infantry Regiment

57th Infantry Regiment:Reconnaissance Company

57th Infantry Regiment:2nd Battalion

57th Infantry Regiment:3rd Battalion


All Text on this site and All Photographs featuring an RVNHS watermark are the Copyrighted Intellectual Property of RVNHS. Copying or use of this material is not permitted without written permission from the Republic of Vietnam Historical Society.