Army Regulations 600-40 did not prescribe shoulder sleeve insignia for units smaller than a division. Many units, particularly ones that were unattached combat units, developed and wore unapproved insignia. It is likely that a fair number of these existed that are not well-known to collectors today. Most of the examples of these shown on this site are not originals but were produced in the post-war period for collectors. Those made during the war were often the private enterprise of a group of soldiers and distributed among the men at a given point in time. Originals were produced by local manufacturers and differ from standard shoulder sleeve insignia. The original 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion insignia shown in this section was made by a maker of clothing labels and resembles one.
