page_title: Shoulder sleeve insignia (United States Army)
section_title: Subdued
hierarchical_section_title: Shoulder sleeve insignia (United States Army) / Versions / Subdued
caption_attribution_description: English: The image consists of 5 authorized variations of the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 1st Cavalry Division. The five patches are property of the United States Government and their images are releasable as public domain.
context_page_description: A shoulder sleeve insignia is an embroidered patch worn on some uniforms of the United States Army. It is used by major formations of the U.S. Army; each formation has a unique formation patch. The U.S. Army is unique among the U.S. Armed Forces in that all soldiers are required to wear the patch of their headquarters as part of their military uniforms.
  Shoulder sleeve insignia receive their name from the fact that they are most commonly worn on the upper left sleeve of the Army Combat Uniform and Army Green uniform. However, they can be placed on other locations, notably on the side of a helmet. Shoulder sleeve insignia worn on the upper right sleeve of Army uniforms denote former wartime service. These "combat patches" are worn on the ACU and the new Army Greens but are not worn on the Army Service Uniform. Instead, a 2 inch metal replica is worn on the right breast pocket and is officially known as the Combat Service Identification Badge.
context_section_description: The subdued version of the SSI created for the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) features patches that are primarily olive, dark brown and black, to match the BDU. In general, this version is obsolete because the Army phased out the BDU in the late 2000s in favor of the Army Combat Uniform (ACU).
  The subdued version created for the Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU) is primarily tan and "spice" brown, to match the uniform's design. This version is also obsolete, as the Army phased out DCUs in favor of ACUs.
  The subdued version created for the Army Combat Uniform is the version widely used in the field today. Since the Army-wide adoption of the ACU, SSI for the ACU have been developed. These SSI are primarily foliage green, light brown, and black, though a few patches also feature red and maroon colors for some details. Unlike previous patches, the ACU SSI are velcro-backed, designed to attach to the velcro pockets on the shoulder of the uniform, instead of being sewn on. This makes them easier to remove and replace.
  Since the development of the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) uniform (commonly known as MultiCam as it is derived from Crye Precision's proprietary pattern) new SSI have been procured where the "Foliage" green of the ACU SSI is replaced by "Bagby" green.  Velcro remains the method for attaching the SSI to the uniform.
caption: Example of the five current types of shoulder sleeve insignia for the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division; full color, BDU subdued, desert subdued, UCP subdued, OCP subdued
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