Brazil

Republic of Brazil

The Federal Republic of Brazil (República Federativa do Brasil) is the largest nation in South America, and the only country in all the Americas where Portuguese is the official language. The region was claimed by Portuguese explorers in 1500, and colonists began arriving between 1532 and 1534. Although some indigenous tribes were assimilated, many were enslaved or subdued by military force. An agricultural economy based on sugar exportation was in full swing by the mid-16th century, supported largely by the importation of slaves from Africa.

As Portuguese power weakened in the early 19th century, Brazil became the temporary seat of the Portuguese Empire. When the king returned to Europe in 1821, Brazil refused to return to colonial status and in Septemer 1822 declared itself an independent monarchy. A series of skirmishes between native Brazilian troops and Portuguese garrisons lasted until November 1823. The monarchy was overthrown in 1889 and a republican government adopted in 1894.

The early part of the 20th century was marked by political dissention, however, with several rebellions led by military officers finally ending in a coup d'etat and ascent to power of Getúlio Vargas. By 1937, Vargas would rule the country as a full dicatorship, with widespread repression of political opponents. His regime ended in 1954 with his suicide.

Following a short period of democratically elected national leaders, the legitimate president was deposed in 1964 and a military regime established. The nation would be ruled as a military dictatorship until 1985.

The Brazilian Armed Forces (Forças Armadas Brasileiras) is the largest in South America with over 370,000 active duty personnel. The three primary branches of service are the Army (Exército), Navy (Marinha), and the Air Force (Forças Aérea). Since 1994 the branches of service have been heavily active with United Nations peacekeeping missions. The Polícia Militar (PM) or Military Police are a national gendarmerie of independent agencies responsible for maintaining order within the individual states. Conventional law enforcement such as criminal investigations, etc is handled by the Civil Police.

Camouflage of the Brazilian Armed Forces

• The first camouflage pattern designed for use by the Brazillian Army was introduced in 1967 and consists of brown and lime green blotches on a pale green background.

• Based around the US m1942 spot pattern of the Second World War, the Brazilian Army's camuflagem bolinhas (little balls camouflage) pattern was probably introduced in the 1960s (possibly even earlier) and worn well into the 1980s by Airborne and Commando troops of the the Brazilian Army as well as some Police COE units. Uniforms were reversible, with a green dominant pattern printed on one side, and a tan pattern on the opposite site, and some variety documented among production runs. The earliest version (below, top two) actually had very little green elements, being instead a sparse brown pattern reversing to a more densely patterned brown, as seen below.

• An unusual variant of the tan dominant "duck hunter" design is seen here, having an additional series of outlined shapes without any color to distinguish them from the base khaki. It seems unlikely this was a printing mistake, as the shapes themselves are outlined.

• Brazil apparently produced some camouflage fabric for Chile during the late 1970s. The rana (frog) pattern, as the Chileans came to call it, was also issued in limited numbers to Brazilian troops on ponchos, helmet covers, backpacks and canteen covers.

• A very early version of the lizard camouflage design for the Brazilian Army (Exército) dates to the 1960s, and features brown and forest green vertical stripes on a tan background.

• Another very early pattern is seen here, probably intended for the Brazilian Navy (Marinha). This design is interesting, in that the distinction between the green stripes is less apparent than on other examples from this time period. The coloration resembles that of the Portuguese Air Force, but with much brighter greens.

• The pattern seen below is an early one developed specifically for the Brazilian Army Montanha (Mountain) units in the 1980s. The design incorporates black, red and moss green vertical stripes on a tan background. This design is apparently still in limited use with some mountain units.

• Another early lizard design is attributed to the Caatinga units during the 1980s, and incorporates reddish-brown and mint green vertical stripes on a pale green background. The Brazilian Army Caatinga units have traditionally operated in the arid regions of northeast Brazil.

• An early lizard camouflage design issued to the Brazilian Army (Exército) seems to have been based on original Portuguese "red lizard" camouflage issued from the early 1970s and worn primarily by units serving in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. The combination of russet and foliage green on a pale green background was similar to the version issued to Caatinga units but there are several differences, including using different types of fabric.

• The lizard pattern currently used by Brazilian Army (Exército) is characterized by dark green and purplish-brown vertical stripes on light or pale green background. This pattern has been worn from the 1980s into the present, and printed on a variety of fabrics, so sevral variations exist.

• Early versions of the lizard pattern camouflage worn by the Brazilian Navy (Marinha) are seen below. To the left is one of the earliest issue Marine patterns, obviously influenced by the original Portuguese design. To the right is the "jungle" pattern, with significant reddish component.

• The contemporary lizard pattern used by Brazilian Navy (Marinha) is characterized by dark green and olive green vertical stripes on light green background. This pattern has been worn from the 1980s into the present, and printed on a variety of fabrics, so sevral variations exist.

• The lizard pattern used by Brazilian Air Force (Forças Aérea) is characterized by dark green, russet & blue vertical stripes on khaki background. This pattern has been worn from the 1980s into the present, and printed on a variety of fabrics, so several variations exist.

• In 2019, it was announced that the Brazilian Marine Corps (Corpo de Fuzileiros Navais,) would adopted a new camouflage design specifically intended for military operations in urban terrain (MOUT). Named the Brazilian Marines Multicam Camouflage Uniform (BMMCU), the camouflage pattern will not replace the lizard pattern worn by Marines for the past 40+ years, but the latter will be updated with new fabrics and uniform styles to reflect adaptation to the modern combat environment. The camouflage itself has nothing to do with the copyrighted Multicam pattern, developed in the USA.

Camouflage of the Brazilian Civil and Military Police

• The São Paolo State Police Shock Battalion COE (Special Operations Company) have worn several interesting camouflage designs, including a trial pattern never adopted and seen below.

• Another pattern worn by the São Paolo State Police Shock Battalion COE was a version of the bolinhas design seen here.

• A variation of the "vertical lizard" design is also worn by the São Paolo State Police Shock Battalion COE (Special Operations Company). The pattern features dark green and olive green vertical stripes on a pale green background.

• A grey or "urban" variation of the lizard design worn by the Bahia and São Paolo State Police Shock Battalions. The pattern incorporates black and medium grey vertical stripes on light grey background.

• The "urban" woodland type camouflage design seen below has been worn by some Choque (Shock) Battalions of various State Police organizations.

• Another "urban" pattern features black, dark grey & greyish-tan blotches on light grey background. This design is worn by the Goias State Police GATE unit, Rio Grande do Sul State special police, and Rio de Janeiro police. The pattern has been documented being worn by Brazilian State Police personnel deployed to East Timor.

• The pattern below is known as camuflagem digital urbana, and is used by the Força Nacional de Segurança Pública (FNSP - National Public Security Force). It appears there are at least two variants, one of these printed vertically and which may be a mistake.

• A copy of the US six-color "chocolate chip" desert pattern has been observed on personnel of the Rio de Janeiro State Military Police Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (BOPE) special operations forces, among others. This design has also been worn by some Caatinga units of the Army. Use of this pattern probably dates to the 1990s.

• Although the traditional operational uniform of the BOPE has been black, the unit also wears a copy of the USMC woodland MARPAT or a very close variant (photographs suggest there may be more than a single design worn by this unit, similar but not precisely the same). These digital patterns have been in circulation since at least 2017, but probably date much earlier.

• The TIGRE unit of the Parana State Civil Police has been documented wearing a commercial tiger stripe camouflage pattern, virtually identical to that seen here.

• Dating to at least 2010, the Batalhão Especializado de Policiamento do Interior (BEPI) or Interior Police Special Battalion of the Pernambuco State Military Police wore a yellow woodland camouflage design. The pattern would be replaced in late 2019 or early 2020 by a variation of Multicam.

• Circa 2012-13 the Coordenação de Aviação Operacional (CAOP) or Coordinating Aviation Operations Unit of the Polícia Federal adopted the arid version of commercial A-TACS for many of its personnel. The unit provides airport, border and maritime security, as well as anti-narcotics, anti-smuggling and other duties.

• Special Environmental Police units, the Policia Militar Ambiental, are attached to the major jurisdictional commands of each State Police agency. Their primary task is to protect wildlife, vegetation and watersheds from degradation due to poaching and other human encroachments. These units wear many different camouflage designs, depending on their jurisdiction. Some of these are illustrated below and can be identified as follows (L to R): Mato Grosso do Sul Wildlife Police, Goias State Wildlife Police, Rio de Janeiro Wildlife Police, and Minas Gerais State Wildlife Police, and Amazon State Wildlife Police.

• Currently, the Amazon State Wildlife Police wear a pixelated version of the previously-issued lizard camouflage, seen here.

• The Comando de Operações Táticas (Tactical Operations Command) or COT of the Polícia Federal often wear Multicam pattern when deployed on non-urban operations where tactical camouflage is appropriate.

• The Comando Tático Rura (COTAR), a shock unit of the Ceara State Military Police, have worn a desert digipat camouflage uniform since at least 2018. The design has a slight pinkish tone to it.

• The COPES (Companhia de Operações Policiais Especiais do Sertão) Caatinga, a special unit of the Military Police of Alagoas State operating in the Caatinga ecoregion, have worn a desert digipat camouflage uniform since at least 2019.

• In use with the Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (BOPE) of the Pernambuco State Military Police (PMPE) since around 2019 is a digital camouflage pattern incorporating light brown, olive green, and black shapes on a khaki background.

• Certain units of the Polícia Militar (PM) of the Pernambuco State (PMPE) also wear a blue digipat camouflage uniform, particularly K9 units (CIPCaes), Radio Patrol units (RPMON), and some Shock Troops (Choque).

• The Batalhão Especializado de Policiamento do Interior (BEPI) or Interior Police Special Battalion of the Pernambuco State Military Police has worn a variation of Multicam with desert color palette since late 2019 or early 2020, replacing the earlier "yellow woodland" design.

• The Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) or Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Environment. Personnel operating in a law enforcement capacity have worn a variant of Multicam with a darker, green-dominant color palette since 2018.

• Replacing their earlier "red lizard" pattern, the Pernambuco State Wildlife Police CIPOMA (Companhia Independente de Policiamento do Meio Ambiente) unit adopted this woodland pixelated camouflage design circa 2020.

Notes

We wish to acknowledge the assistance of the Danilo and Dylan Matz, and thank them for contributing to this article.