Peru

Republic of Peru

The territory that today encompasses the Republic of Peru (República del Perú) was once home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world, the Norte Chico. During the 15th century expansion of the Incan Empire incorporated the entire region into its territory which it held until 1532, when Spanish conquistadors under Francisco Pizaaro defeated the Incas and established the Viceroyalty of Peru, encompassing most of South America. The Spanish crown depended on the mining of precious metals for its support and many indigenous peoples were enslaved for this purpose. Although several wars of independence raged throughout South America during the 19th century, Peru itself remained royalist territory until the the military campaigns of José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar engineered its nationhood. Peru was defeated by Chile in the 1879–1883 War of the Pacific, losing the provinces of Arica and Tarapacá in the treaties of Ancón and Lima.

The Peruvian Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas del Perú) consist of three branches, the Army, Navy and Air Force, with just over 120,000 active duty personnel. Additionally, the National Police of Peru (with a strength of 140,000) are often considered a fourth branch of service, due to their widespread duties and paramilitary training. The National Police were formed in 1988 by merging the Investigative Police, the Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) and the Republican Guard (Guardia Republicana del Perú).

Peruvian Camouflage Patterns

• Like many other countries in Central and South America, Peru appears to have emulated its neighbor far to the north, the United States of America, with regards to early experimentation in the issue of camouflage clothing. Some of the oldest photographs of military and paramilitary personnel show camouflage heavily influenced by the "frogskin" or "duck hunter" type designs worn by American personnel during the Second World War. Sadly, most surviving photographs are in black & white or very washed out, but presumably the color palettes would have been similar to those found on US produced fabric.

• Dating to the mid-1960s, the so-called "geometric" camouflage pattern is indigenous to Peru and consists of very large rounded shapes in dark green & reddish brown on a tan or khaki-colored background. There is some variability as to color between production runs, particularly those produced in later years. Evidence suggests the large geometric design was worn well into the late 1980s and early 1990s, and its use included units in the Army, Guardia Civil, and the Guardia Republicana.

• A variation of the "geometric" pattern, presumably for issue to personnel deployed to arid ro sandy regions of Peru, incorporates shapes in reddish-brown & ochre on a yellow-tan background. This design was much less common, and may have only been produced in the 1960s era.

• By the 1970s a variation of the splinter camouflage design engineered by Germany during the Second World War appeared in use with Peruvian units. The pattern incorporates small dark olive green & mid-brown geometric shapes on a tan background, although there is some variability between production runs. Although similar to it, the early pattern is in fact unrelated to the earlier "geometric" pattern most commonly associated with Peru. This pattern is also sometimes called "small geometric."

• An interesting hybrid camouflage design dating to the 1970s can be seen here. Incorporating leaf shapes similar to those of the USMC standard pattern, "cloud" type shapes similar to the USMC Mitchell pattern and rain strait elements probably derived from WW2 German patterns, this camouflage design has been primarily documented in use by female paratroopers (possibly a parachute rigger team).

• During the late 1970s and 1980s, the 48th Command unit of the Guardia Civil (later amalgamated into the National Police), aka Los Sinchis, wore locally-produced uniforms made from imported South Korean "waves" pattern camouflage fabric. The Sinchis (from the Quechua word meaning "strong" or "brave") were a specialized, airborne-capable unit focusing on counter-insurgency and anti-narcotics operations. This unit later became part of the National Police along with the rest of the Civil Guard, although its uniforms were updated.

• An interesting blue leaf pattern camouflage emerged during the 1980s, in use either with the Republic Guard or the later Security Police (after 1986). The pattern may also have continued in use with the National Police after they were formed in 1988.

• The DINANDRO (Anti-Narcotics unit) of the National Police began wearing commercially-produced tiger stripe pattern camouflage uniforms during the late 1980s and 1990s and have continued to do so in some capacity into the present era.

• Since the late 1980s, some units of the Peruvian Army and Marines have worn copies of the US six-color "chocolate chip" pattern camouflage.

• Adopted by the Army and Naval Forces in the very late 1980s or early 1990s, locally-produced copies of the m81 woodland camouflage design would eventually replace most previous designs. Although early versions exhibit considerable color differences from the original US design, later variations would be much more in line with standardized woodland; indeed some ex-US issue military uniforms have also appeared in service with the Peruvian Armed Forces.

• A series of camouflage-like t-shirts printed in speckled or spot-patterned designs were worn variously by members of the Army's 1a Brigada de Fuerzas Especiales (1st Special Forces Brigade) as well as some support elements during the early to mid-1990s. Although largely featuring dark (black, brown or dark green) speckled shapes on a lighter olive or khaki background, the patterns varied considerably in the size of the spots or speckles as well as the shades employed in the printing process. Similar t-shirts later appeared during Cenapa War veteran's parades, such as that held in 2011.

• The Peruvian National Police (PNP) Sinchis unit have been known to wear a copy of the US tricolor desert camouflage pattern.

• In 2007, the Peruvian Armed Forces moved into the "digital age" and revealed two new pixelated designs intended to replace many of the older camouflage patterns then being used. Nicknamed "Amazonian Pattern" (AMAPAT) and "Pacific Pattern" (PACIPAT) the designs are intended for use in heavily vegetated/jungle environments and desert/sandy beach environments, respectively.

• Shortly after the Army introduces its new pixelated designs, the Naval Infantry (Marines) adopted their own pixelated woodland design seen here. Based on the temperate MARPAT design of the US Marine Corps, the design varies in several ways. A desert version has also been documented in use, although this may have been replaced by the ATACS arid copy seen below.

• The Comandos Anfibios of the Peruvian Naval Infantry (Marines) wear a copy of the Universal Camouflage Pattern.

• Both regular Infanteria de Marina (Naval Infantry) and Comandos Anfibios are documented wearing a version of ATACS arid camouflage, probably produced in Peru under license (or not) from the designer. Some photographs suggest the design is worn concurrently with the desert version of MARPAT.

• Locally-produced copies of Multicam pattern began to see use with units of the Peruvian Army and Air Force at some point in 2019. This appears to have been only a transitional and temporary change, as the Armed Forces were already implementing adoption of the country's own distinctive, non-pixelated camouflage design by the middle of this year. Nevertheless, use of Multicam continued into the adoption period for UNIPAT and the two patterns can be seen worn concurrently within the Armed Forces.

• In June 2019, an official announcement was made by the Army, introducing the newest combat uniform (uniforme de campaña) - the UNIPAT. The design incorporates a varied color palette and appears to have been influenced by Multicam but is not a true derivative or copy. It instead utilizes a number of unique shapes, including blotch and dot-like features more commonly seen in German flecktarn pattern and its derivatives. The color palette includes olive green, medium brown, dark brown, khaki, a sandy tan, and sparse areas of off white or light grey. Some versions appear lighter or darker in various photographs.