The history of unit insignia can be traced back as far as there is recorded military history. WWII was so vast in scope that the unit artwork was brought to an unprecedented level. The USAAF issued blank 5" leather patches for the application of insignia. Some groups had water transfer decals, some were hand tooled, some were carved, some were multi-piece...the sky was literally the limit.

The USAAF went through a rigorous process of approving insignia for official use. The "bible" of insignia was authored by Maurer&Maurer and contains over 700 pages of approved insignia. Patches were generally made in theater and ranged from high quality professional art, to crude adaptations of squadron art. It was quite the cottage industry and now considered one of the most personal and beautiful forms of art to emerge from WWII.