Republic of Vietnam

South Vietnamese Camouflage Patterns

• The South Vietnamese-produced Airborne (Nhãy-Dù) camouflage was a brushstroke design based on the British 1942 windproof pattern, with broad pea green & purplish-brown brushstroke on a pinkish-tan base. This pattern was occasionally worn by US military advisors to the ARVN Airborne Division during the very early years of the Vietnam War. Some collectors and historians refer to this pattern as "ARVN pinks" due to the obvious pinkish overtones.

• South Vietnamese tiger stripe camouflage patterns were very popular with US military personnel during the war, both as operational clothing (employed primarily by elite units such as US Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs, and Marine Recon) and as status symbols or off-duty party garments worn by rear echelon personnel. Based on the French tenue du leopard or lizard design, a majority of the tiger patterns worn by US military personnel were made in South Vietnam. Many different styles of tiger stripe emerged between 1964 and 1975 and have been exhaustively documented by author Richard D. Johnson in his excellent book Tiger Patterns. Presented here are a handful of samples from original garments that were produced during this time period.

Advisor's Type Dense pattern

Tadpole Dense pattern

Tadpole Sparse pattern

John Wayne Dense pattern

Late War Lightweight Sparse pattern

Other Camouflage Patterns Worn by South Vietnam

• Early US Army Special Forces advisors deployed to Southeast Asia were outfitted rather inadequately for serving in the extremely warm and wet tropical climate there. Their search for more appropriate clothing, particularly to be used in conducting reconnaissance and ambush operations, led to the procurement of commercially-produced items, as no US military equivalent was available at the time. Based on the original US M1942 jungle spot camouflage pattern, lighter weight hunting uniforms made by American and Asian retail companies - frequently nicknamed "duck hunter" camouflage - were obtained privately by unit commanders and also supplied to indigenous units as part of the CIA-sponsored CIDG program. Commercial duck hunter spot pattern is generally a four or five-color dappled design of multi-sized brown, green & tan spots on khaki, tan, or pale green background. Between 1961 and 1966-7, significant numbers of these commercially available uniforms were worn by US military personnel. The example seen below is but one of several that were commonly employed.