Coat of Arms of the Washington Family
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_the_Washington_family
Off-topic ping to the GGG list, can anyone help with this?.
Those types of patches are called “beret flashes” — might help in looking it up.
It does appear to be based in the Washington family coat of arms. Which I think is reflected in DC’s flag.
Spent 10 minutes looking online but nothing matches. I’d like to find out too, please ping me if this mystery is solved.
this turned up in a search:
How to Identify World War II Ribbons and Medals | WW2 | World War...
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/433753007832523708/
OSS?
Coat of Arms of the Washington Family
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_the_Washington_family
Since it was on a beret made in England I sent the picture to a couple of British veteran’s groups in case it turns out to be a British patch.
Not korea’s
It means your Father was secretly a three star General in the Basque Army.
Concealed inside the patch is a microdot with directions to your family estate in the Pyrenees.
This is prominent on the front of the beret? (And NOT the emblem of the manufacturer?)
I’ve run into this problem before, namely identifying military patches, flashes, insignia, etc., and I’m really surprised there isn’t a patch identification website somewhere out there, but there doesn’t appear to be one.
If some dedicated soul would just do it, it’d be done once and for all and only occasional updates would be needed.
The Pentagon must keep a record of these things. I mean, a unit doesn’t adopt an insignia without passing it up the chain of command for approval, IF it’s even done that way, which I doubt. It’s more likely they are passed down the chain of command, not up.
The Pentagon has to have a record of all these patches.
3 Star Captain General ? (like Radar being a Corporal Captain on M*A*S*H)
ID PING
Not korea’s
Father in law thinks it’s a unit patch.
He is an expert. Couldn’t tell me what unit.
Yes there should be a database, not sure why this has not been done before.
is unmistakable...
TXnMA
Doesn’t the US Army have a heraldry unit that is responsible for for the lineage of units and their identifiers? I’d consider contacting them with this chestnut.
I’d start with what US units were authorized to wear berets, or may have worn them as part of a cover, during WWII. Then look for what flashes were authorized or allowed to be worn on them.
Since this is an English-made beret with a flash that alludes to General Washington’s coat of arms, part of me wonders if the item is a beret allowed for wear by Major William O. Darby’s early Rangers-in-training at their base in Carrickfergus (sic?), Ireland.
Since it’s proving elusive to internet-powered casual research, I wonder if there is an outside chance that this was a beret worn by an American volunteer (or volunteer unit) during the Spanish Civil War. I know there was a Lincoln Brigade. Wikipedia says there was an American George Washington unit among the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War.
...Or maybe it is something that was very casual and unauthorized. Something American servicemen may have worn as part of their civilian clothing while on R&R in Western Europe that helped them to be a little less conspicuous.
Total WAGs here on my part on all this, but I hope to jog memories or open an alternate path to search. It’s a fun mystery!