Other Cloth Insignia Not Shoulder Sleeve Insignia

Second World War

Army Air Force Flight Jacket Patches

First Lieutenant Kenneth J. O'Boyle, 97th Bombardment Squadron, based in Grosseto, Italy, stands with his A-20.
The insignia of the squadron is seen on the side of the aircraft.

• Background Information on Flight Jacket Patches

• Bombardment (Bomber) Groups

• Bombardment (Bomber) Squadrons Numbers Less Than 500

• Bombardment (Bomber) Squadrons Numbers 500 or Greater

• Fighter Groups and Squadrons Numbers Less Than 400

• Fighter Squadrons Numbers 400 or Greater, Night Fighters, Fighter Bombers

• Other Commands, Groups and Squadrons Not Bomber or Fighter

There were many hundreds of squadron patches and I have only a few examples of them. The 1944 Special Issue of the National Geographic Magazine includes several pages of squadron insignia and is a good, but incomplete reference. A more complete reference is the book Combat Squadrons of the Air Force World War II edited by Maurer Maurer, but it can be misleading in that it often uses postwar designs for the illustration of the official squadron insignia. I hope that we will be able to include more images from viewers as they become available.