U.S. Army Air Force Patch
Description
The U. S. Army Air Force patch is a winged star emblem embroidered in yellow, white, and red on a blue twill circle. It’s worn on the left shoulder of a uniform coat or shirt. Known as the “Hap Arnold emblem,” it was approved for wear in 1942.
The U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) was created in June,1941, as successor to the Army Air Corps. A component of the U.S. Army, USAAF provided military aviation and controlled its own installations and support personnel. At its peak size, there were 2.4 million men and women assigned with nearly 80,000 aircraft. In 1947 the USAAF became an independent service, the U.S. Air Force.
My father served in the 87th division E-347 regiment. In his collection of metals, patches and pins are 4 Army Air Force shoulder patches. He was in the infantry army as a mortar operator. I don’t know why he had gotten the Army Air Force patches. I read that his regiment was assigned to the III Corp, VIII Corp, XII Corp and XVIII Corp. Is this possibly where the came from? Thanks for any insight.
My son in laws Grandpa passed away he was in the Army Air Corps during WW 2. He left him a patch that has a cobra holding a bomb in its mouth. I was wondering if you had any information about this patch.
Likely the patch from the 864th bomber squadron of the 7th Army Air Force: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/864th_Bombardment_Squadron
Hello, I bought a hand painted leather patch a few years ago, it has a P-51 on it or what appears to be one painted on it. It has yellow background with 3 red lighting bolts on it behind the P-51. The patch was sewn on a jacket at one point in time. I’ve searched a lot and can not find anything close to it. Any ideas on what squadron it’s associated with?
Trying to ID my father’s WW2 patches to learn more about his service. One is an Army Air Force winged 9 on a blue shield background. The other is a green background 4 sided patch with gold eagle in a gold circle. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Hello,
Those would be for the 9th Air Force and an honorable discharge insignia.
Trying to identify 2 patches on the front of an A-2 Bomber jacket that was a career army relative who served in the 15th. One patch is a chevron shape with a winged horse and a bomb in the background. The horse wing is red and white striped. The 2nd patch has a skull wearing a top hat With a bomb Underneath the jaw and what looks like 7K behind it? And something I can identify but is long with a handle and smoking at one end. I can send photos. We do know he flew tours over Europe (went down in Italy) and in the pacific. Thank you for any assistance.
449th Bomb Group(H), Flying Horsemen.
The other could be the 716th Squadron, perhaps? Quite a few patches with skulls donning top hats riding or holding or flanked by bombs.
Why was the Hap Arnold Emblem awarded?
Thank you for your question! The Army Air Force shoulder patch was worn by everyone assigned to the Army Air Force in WWII. It was not a medal or award.