Original Items: Only One Lot of 12 Available. Embroidered military patches were first worn in the 1800’s by British soldiers, but were only worn by officers to signify their higher rank. Patches became an effective way to distinguish between divisions in military units, and the idea soon spread to America. Before the Civil War, military uniforms were remarkably unadorned and void of any decoration.

During the Civil War, soldiers from both the Union and Confederate armies wore types of identification on their forage caps, rank stripes on their sleeves and informal patches on their shirts. The Union army tended to have more military patches than the Confederate army, but their wives usually hand sewed patches at home as they were not yet mass-produced. Both Union and Confederate armies had limited patches due to small supplies of cotton and thread, the location of soldiers, and the high cost of materials during the war.

It wasn’t until World War I that General John J. Pershing officially authorized the limited use of military patches on uniforms. During World War I, most of the patches were variations of the Chevron design. The intricate variations of the Chevron design signified rank, division and the skill sets of soldiers. However, the first formal World War I patches were worn by the Army’s 81st Division “Wildcats” in 1918. They were a dull olive felt patch with the silhouette of a wildcat.

By World War II, the military became more organized and produced custom patches that clearly defined a soldier's rank, corps, divisions, and brigades. During WW2 the colors of the patches tended to be much more bright and had specific significance. For example, if a soldier belonged to a division where he operated tanks, he would wear a tank inspired patch. Medics in the Army would wear bright Red Cross embroidered patches to appear more visible on the battlefield. Collecting military patches became so popular during World War II that young children often wrote soldiers asking for them to send their patches in the mail to add to their collection.

During the Vietnam and Gulf War, the patches became much more subdued and harmonious with the colors of the soldier's uniforms. In July 1970, it became mandatory for soldiers to wear their military patches on their field uniforms.

The Patches In This Lot:
- South Park Kyle Broflovski Afghanistan Patch: Patch is unused and appears to be an “in country” made example.

- Combined Joint Task Force 7 Operation Iraqi Freedom: Combined Joint Task Force 7 was the interim military formation that directed the U.S. effort in Iraq between June 2003 and May 2004. It replaced the Coalition Forces Land Component Command on 14 June 2003. CFLCC was the land forces component of United States Central Command that carried out the initial invasion of Iraq, was established by Commander, U.S. Army Forces Central Command, in 2002/3, to oversee two corps-sized organizations, I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) and V Corps. These two corps-level formations carried out Operation Iraqi Freedom which began on 20 March 2003.

- ALP Afghan Local Police: Just like the ALP, this patch appears to have never been used. The Afghan Local Police (ALP) was a US-UK sponsored local law enforcement agency, defense force and militia in Afghanistan as part of the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs. Formed primarily as a local defense force against Taliban insurgents its members have no power of arrest and are only authorized to investigate crime if requested to do so by the Afghan National Police (ANP). It was established at the request of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Summer 2010 and is paid for by the United States. Officers undergo three weeks military and police training by ISAF personnel and receive weapons and a uniform. They are intended to defend their villages from insurgent attack and allow the ANP to focus on offensive operations. It was originally intended to function for between two and five years.

- Multi-National Corps Iraq: Multi-National Corps – Iraq (MNC-I) was a formerly multinational, later U.S. only, army corps created on 15 May 2004, fighting the Iraq War. Its superior body, the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) had replaced Combined Joint Task Force 7 on May 15, 2004. The change was made due to "concerns that had existed for some period of time, that the Combined Joint Task Force 7 headquarters was not sufficient to handle the range of military operations in Iraq, including peace support, civil military operations, and at the same time conduct strategic engagement such as talking to the sheiks and talking to the political authorities."

- US Army Universal Camouflage Pattern ISAF Patch: The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 pursuant to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined the establishment of a permanent Afghan government following the U.S. invasion in October 2001. ISAF's primary goal was to train the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and assist Afghanistan in rebuilding key government institutions; it gradually took part in the broader war in Afghanistan against the Taliban insurgency.

- National Military Academy of Afghanistan (Command and Staff College): The National Military Academy of Afghanistan (NMAA) was one of three academic institutions of the Marshal Fahim National Defense University. It was a four-year military development institution dedicated to commissioning officers for the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghan Air Force (AAF). The mission of the NMAA was to produce officers for the Afghan Armed Forces that also have a four-year college level bachelor's degree. The academy was based upon the United States Military Academy and United States Air Force Academy. After the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on August 15th 2021 to the Taliban, and the simultaneous collapse of the Afghan National Army and Afghan Air Force the same day, the Academy was officially shut down.

- Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team USMC CLB 207 Afghanistan: Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLTs) were the NATO equivalent of the United States' Embedded Training Teams and were active in Afghanistan.

- Lithuanian National Support Element NSE 4 2010-2011: National Support Elements (NSE) were part of the IFOR, and later the SFOR, NATO led forces, which were deployed primarily in former Yugoslavia from 1996 to 2004 (when replaced by EUFOR). Many of the NSE's were deployed in Hungary - even though this country was neither part of the conflict, nor a NATO member at the time - because of the local stability, good infrastructure, access to local supply ordering and relatively short distance to the battalions in Bosnia.

- ISAF Joint Command IJC Information Operations: The International Security Force Assistance (ISAF) Joint Command or IJC was located on the military side of Kabul International Airport; sometimes called North Kabul International Airport. IJC was commanded by a three-star general and all the regional commands reported to him. The commander of IJC, sometimes referred to as COMIJC, reported to the commander of ISAF (a four-star general). IJC was established in November 2009 to serve as NATO's operational headquarters in Afghanistan. At its peak, IJC controlled over 130,000 troops from more than 40 nations across six regional commands.

- United States Forces Iraq: United States Forces – Iraq (USF-I) was an American military sub-unified command, part of U.S. Central Command. It was stationed in Iraq as agreed with the Government of Iraq under the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement. USF–I replaced the previous commands Multi-National Force – Iraq, Multi-National Corps – Iraq, and Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq from January 2010. General Lloyd Austin served as commanding general. The logo of the USF-I depicts a lamassu.

- US Army Camp As Sayliyah Doha, Qatar: As Sayliyah Army Base or Camp As Sayliyah was a United States Army base in Al Sailiya, a suburb outside Doha, Qatar. U.S. Central Command used it to preposition material bound for Iraq and Afghanistan. It was the largest U.S. Army prepositioning site in the world, capable of storing enough equipment for a U.S. Army armored brigade: more than 150 M-1 Abrams tanks, 116 Bradley fighting vehicles, and 112 other armored personnel carriers. It was established in 2000, and closed in June 2021 when its mission was moved to Area Support Group-Jordan. In 2022, it is being used as a way station or "lilypad" for housing Afghans who have been evacuated by the US Government.

- 82nd Airborne: After 11 September attacks on the United States, the 82nd's 49th Public Affairs Detachment deployed to Afghanistan in October 2001 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom along with several individual 82nd soldiers who deployed to the Central Command area of responsibility to support combat operations.

In June 2002, elements of the division headquarters and TF Panther (HQ 3d Brigade; 1–504th INF, 1–505th INF, 3–505th INF, 1–319th FA) deployed to Afghanistan. In January 2003, TF Devil (HQ 1st Brigade, 2–504th INF, 3–504th INF, 2–505th INF, 3–319th FA) relieved TF Panther.

In March 2003, 1–325, 2–325 and 3–325th INF of the 2nd BCT was attached to the 75th Ranger Regiment as part of a special operations task force to conduct a parachute assault to seize Saddam International Airport in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On 21 March 2003, Company D crossed the Saudi Arabia–Iraq border as part of Task Force Hunter to escort heavy rocket artillery indirect fire systems to destroy Iraqi artillery batteries in the western Iraqi desert. Upon cancellation of the parachute assault to seize the airport, the battalions returned to their parent 2nd Brigade at Talil Airfield near An Nasariyah, Iraq. The 2nd Brigade then continued operations in Samawah, Fallujah, and Baghdad. The brigade returned to the United States by the end of February 2004.

Military Patches have now become very popular inside the branches of the military. The historical symbolism of each patch has created an active collectors market inside and outside the military, especially for rare, limited-production patches. These different patches have now become an important part of military history!

All are in great condition with most of them remaining unused. Comes more than ready for display!