Army uniform patch placement is governed by Army Regulation 670-1, which assigns every authorized patch, tape, tab, and badge a specific spot measured to the fraction of an inch. The Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) combat uniform uses hook-and-loop pads at each location, while the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) uses sewn-on cloth insignia and pin-on metal rank. The rules below follow AR 670-1 and its companion diagrams in DA Pamphlet 670-1.10
The Left Sleeve: Current Unit Patch and Tabs
Your current unit’s Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI) goes on the left sleeve. On the OCP, it sits centered on the left shoulder’s hook-and-loop pad.21 It changes every time you move to a new unit, because it identifies where you’re assigned now.
Skill and qualification tabs also live on the left sleeve, above the SSI. If you rate more than one, they stack in a fixed order of precedence. From top to bottom:
- Special Forces tab, centered half an inch below the shoulder seam.
- Ranger tab, one-eighth of an inch below the Special Forces tab.
- Sapper tab, one-eighth of an inch below the Ranger tab.
- Current unit SSI, one-quarter of an inch below the lowest tab.
A soldier who rates only one tab wears it in the top position with the SSI directly beneath it.33
Environmental qualification tabs follow the same left-sleeve placement. The Arctic tab is earned through the Cold Weather Orientation Course or Cold Weather Leaders Course, and the Jungle tab through the Jungle Operations Training Course. Both are authorized only while a soldier is serving within the U.S. Army Pacific area of operations, and are not worn during temporary duty elsewhere or while deployed outside that AO.44
The Right Sleeve: Combat Patch and Flag
The right shoulder carries two items: the flag on top, and a combat patch below it.
The U.S. flag patch is worn on the right shoulder pocket flap of the OCP. It measures two by three inches and is oriented with the blue star field facing forward, so the flag reads as though it were streaming backward while the soldier advances.55 Full-color embroidered flag in garrison; subdued tactical flag when deployed or in a field environment, at the commander’s direction.66 Infrared-reflective flag patches are issued as part of unit tactical gear.
Below the flag sits the combat patch, formally the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia–Military Operations in Hostile Conditions (SSI-MOHC). Many soldiers still call it the SSI-FWTS.72 On the OCP it is centered on the right shoulder’s hook-and-loop pad. It identifies a unit you previously served with during qualifying operations. Not every overseas assignment counts; the Department of the Army maintains the authorization list, and it is updated as new operations are approved. If you earned more than one, you pick which unit’s SSI to display. Only one is worn at a time.
Name Tape, Branch Tape, and Skill Badges
On the OCP, your last name tape goes on the right breast, immediately above the top of the slanted pocket flap and parallel to the ground. The “U.S. ARMY” branch tape mirrors it on the left breast.87 Both are black block letters on OCP-pattern fabric, attached to a five-inch hook-and-loop pad.
Fabric skill badges — Expert Infantryman Badge, Combat Medical Badge, Combat Action Badge, and similar awards — sit above the “U.S. ARMY” tape on the left breast. The first badge is one-eighth of an inch above the tape.910 Multiple badges stack upward in order of precedence, highest on top.
On dress uniforms, you may wear up to three skill or identification badges above the ribbon rack or pocket flap. The row spacing is spelled out in DA Pamphlet 670-1’s diagrams, and getting it right generally means using a ruler.
Rank on the OCP
Rank insignia on the OCP is worn centered on the hook-and-loop pad on the chest of the uniform.108 Enlisted soldiers use subdued embroidered rank patches there. Officers wear subdued chest rank as well, and also wear a pin-on or sew-on rank insignia centered on the front of the patrol cap.119 In the field, the patrol cap rank is often the most legible indicator of an officer’s grade.
Placement on the Army Green Service Uniform
The AGSU is the current standard service and dress uniform, with a mandatory possession date of October 1, 2027.1213 Placement on the AGSU differs from the OCP in several ways:
- Current unit SSI: sewn on the left sleeve, centered half an inch below the shoulder seam.
- SSI-MOHC (combat patch): sewn on the right sleeve, centered half an inch below the shoulder seam.
- Officer rank: oxidized silver pin-on insignia on the shoulder loops of the coat, centered with equal spacing between the outer edge of the loop and the button.
- Enlisted rank: embroidered cloth insignia sewn on each sleeve, centered between the shoulder seam and the elbow. If an SSI interferes with that centering, the rank drops to half an inch below the SSI.
All AGSU insignia are full-color, using heritage tan on a heritage green background for enlisted rank.1314 Subdued OCP-style insignia does not go on the AGSU.
Service Stripes and Overseas Service Bars
Service stripes go on the lower left sleeve of the dress uniform. Each stripe represents three years of honorable active federal service. They are placed at a 45-degree angle, centered on the outside of the sleeve, four inches from the bottom.1411
Overseas Service Bars go on the lower right sleeve of the dress uniform, also four inches from the bottom. Each bar represents six months of duty in a qualifying overseas location, stacked with a small gap between them when a soldier rates more than one.1512
Neither of these is worn on the OCP. They are dress-uniform insignia only.
Garrison vs. Deployed
Several rules shift when you deploy or enter a field environment. The most visible change is the flag: full-color in garrison, subdued when deployed.1617 Commanders can also direct subdued versions of other insignia under tactical conditions. Anything reflective or high-contrast gets swapped for a muted version.
Environmental tabs are not authorized while deployed outside their qualifying area of operations.1718 Some commanders also issue theater-specific guidance that adds restrictions beyond AR 670-1, so it’s worth checking unit policy before arriving at a new duty station.
What You Cannot Wear
Only insignia prescribed by AR 670-1, listed in Common Table of Allowances 50-900, or specifically approved by Headquarters, Department of the Army may be worn on any Army uniform.10 If a patch was not authorized through those channels or approved by The Institute of Heraldry, it does not go on the uniform.1815
That rules out morale patches, commercial logos, unit-designed patches that never received official approval, memorial patches for fallen soldiers, and tabs from foreign military courses that have not been individually authorized. Items like these belong on personal gear or civilian clothing. Every piece of fabric on the uniform has to trace back to an official authorization, and “close enough” placement of the authorized items is not accepted either.