Ripcord's insignia collection

Hello All,

Will  periodically post pieces of my insignia collection, both old, and new acquisitions..

Hope you enjoy...

These 2 pieces were given to me by an active duty SF trooper who was presented with them by Ukrainian Paratroopers  he was training.





rip....

                                                              

Scarce early Italian Para wing,  and 3 grades of German Para wings with ( from the top ) basic, senior, master and  subdued version.

                                                                

                                                               

Swedish Para insignia, Turkish Para wings, and Asian made US wings embroidered on camo cloth.

rip....

The bronze Italian para wing is for 1 Gruppo Tactical ( 1 Tactical Group), in the early 1950,s parachutists from the Corps delle Gardie Pubblica Sicurezza (Public Security Guard
Corps) 4th Mobile Group were transferred to the army which the military parachute centre used to create the 1 Gruppo Tactical (1 Tactical Group) which was of battalion
size it remained the Italian army main airborne unit during the Italian Airborne Forces period of growth until 1963 when it was replaced by a larger Airborne unit.

Thanks for your input.

The 1 Gruppo Tattico was indeed the seed of post war Italian Parachute formations.

Here are a few new Croatian pieces, including newly issued embroidered SF insignia, as opposed to the more common  jacquard weaving insignia.

               

Also shown is an early US Free Fall wing in much larger scale to current  issue wings, and a British  padded SAS wing.

Enjoy,

rip....

Those Swedish para insignia are not easy to find, very nice.

Thank you...

I had to pinch myself when they were offered to me.

If I could find Norwegian wings, that would really make me happy...

I do have some extra Finnish wings available for interesting trades...

rip....

I'll keep my eyes open, but like the Swedish ones they are not easy to find.

Thank you very much,

I appreciate your graciousness .

The hunt goes on.....

rip....

A few cloth  Netherlands Para wings, and 3 cloth Parachute rigger wings, 2 of them VN era cut edge type.





                Saudi Navy Para wing in original box.


                       
 


rip......

Really nice collection you have. Best regards,Vitalis

Thanks Vitalis,

Will be posting more as time allows...

rip....

New installment ....


Norway



Greece                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Belgium




The following are fairly common  NWU NSW qualification insignia, except for the Woodland Marpat piece, which I have not seen before.
Hope to eventually  find a  Desert Marpat version.



                                                                                 

rip....

Post '91 Italian Para Saboteur wings.



South Africa  Railway Police , Reece ( scorpion ) patches                                                                                                                                                                   Finnish



rip....

Nice Norwegian patches and wings you got there, some are very hard to find. I also like the Finnish para wings, I bet those are hard to find as well.

Thanks again for your comments,

An old friend offered the Norwegian wings to me recently, and I was happy to work out a trade for them.

I believe they are all obsolete, except for the current  Black on Olive subdued wing, but they all are a very welcome addition.   The 2  golden beevo wings are  particularly pretty up close.

The Finn wings are not easy to locate.   I was  told  the Master grade ( golden ) is almost never seen anymore, due mostly  to the small numbers of airborne slots and the relatively small  number of jumps currently being conducted .

I do have a set of uncut wings  for trade...

rip....

All the Norwegian para wings in the picture are obsolete. New and different wings are being used now, I'll see if I can find a picture or link

Thanks for the info...

Knew there was a change in the design of the Para badges, but thought the black one was current.
Good to know, and certainly would appreciate any other info...  

rip...

Update.



                   Desert Marpat                                                                                                                                                                                                   NWU II / Desert Marpat




  The colors of these two patterns are very close, with the Marpat being slightly darker overall.

rip....

Danish





                          Freefall Desert                                                                                                                                                                                                    Subdued Desert        




  Finland




  French  Legion                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  UK  Royal Marines



rip....

Sorry,man, but French beret badge is not FFL, . This is French army infantry. Best regards,Vitalis

Hey Vitalis,

Yes, you are correct, definitely a French Army Beret Badge, not FFL.

Thanks for the correction...

rip....

These came a couple of days ago...

               The orange patch was rejected in favor of the red patch.





rip....

Couple of Afghani made patches, and an unusually encountered CIB .

    Note incorrect  RANGERS tab on SF patch.

                                                                            

 

rip....

Had been looking for Italian  pre '91 Para Saboteur wings for quite some time.
The golden wings were/are purportedly used by  WWII veterans of these  units.

Added some other Italian pieces I may have posted before..







rip....

Finland.

 



    

                                                       

rip....