Lizard pattern | |
---|---|
Type | Military camouflage pattern |
Place of origin | France |
Service history | |
In service | 1947-1980s (French service) |
Used by | See Users |
Wars | First Indochina War Algerian War Congo Crisis Nigerian Civil War South African Border War Six Day War Uganda–Tanzania War Rhodesian Bush War Chadian Civil War Chadian–Libyan conflict Vietnam War Cambodian Civil War Laotian Civil War Portuguese Colonial War Angolan Civil War Mozambican Civil War Sudanese Civil War Western Sahara conflict Turkish invasion of Cyprus Lebanese Civil War Iran-Iraq War Gulf War Syrian Civil War Russian invasion of Ukraine |
Production history | |
Designer | Numerous |
Manufacturer | Numerous |
Produced | 1947-1980 (French production only) |
The lizard pattern (TAP47 pattern [1] or Leopard pattern for the French) is a family of many related designs of military camouflage pattern, first used by the French Army on uniforms from 1947 to the late 1980s. It was based on the British paratroopers' Denison smock. [2] [3] The use of the pattern is widespread in Africa, despite its association with France, because armed factions and militaries tend to obtain them from whichever source has it available. [4]
There are two major types of lizard pattern, horizontal like the original French design, and vertical like the early variant developed by Portugal. In addition, the Vietnam War tigerstripe pattern is descended from Lizard. [2]
Lizard patterns have two overlapping prints, generally green and brown, printed with gaps so that a third dyed color, such as a lighter green or khaki, makes up a large part of the pattern. In this, it is printed like earlier British patterns used on that country's Paratroopers Denison smocks. Lizard patterns have narrower printed areas than the British patterns, and the original form had a strong horizontal orientation, disrupting the vertical form of the soldier's body. [2]
Horizontal lizard patterns in different colour forms were made by the French. A copy of the French pattern, made in Asia, was adopted by some African countries such as Chad, Gabon, Rwanda, and Sudan. In around 1970 Cuba designed a gray variety, used by Cuba and by the FAPLA of Angola. Greece has used a range of horizontal lizard patterns from the 1960s. Russian Spetsnaz and interior ministry troops wear horizontal lizard patterns. [2] The Israel Defence Force used actual French lizard uniforms (donated by France) until 1968, alongside plain (unpatterned) battledress. [5]
Bulgarian Army used the surplus Israel Defence Force uniforms as official uniform in United Nation's mission in Cambodia (UNTAC), 1992–1993.
French lizard was among the patterns used in Congo in 1978. [6] After the Algerian War the "Troupes Aéroportée" (Airborne Troops) "Tenue Leopard"/"tenues de saut" was officially withdrawn from French service in January 1963 as it was felt to be a reminder of the Paratroops mutiny. It was initially replaced with the olive green M1947 "trellis/tenue de compagne" and later the newer green "trellis Satin M1964" in 1971 which became the "tenue F-1", the forest camouflage CCE was introduced in 1991. [7]
However, the "tenue camouflee toutes armes" variant was worn by the entire Foreign Legion throughout the 1960s [7] and by Foreign Legion paratroops into the early 1980s until finally replaced by the “tenue F1”. [8]
Vertical lizard patterns in different colorways were apparently developed in Portugal from the original French horizontal patterns. The lizard pattern had been in use in Portugal since 1956 with the Air Force's Paratroopers, being extended to the Army's Special Rifles units in 1960. With the Portuguese Military engaged in the Overseas Wars mainly fought in the African jungles, the camouflaged uniform was issued throughout the whole Army and some units of the Navy and Air Force. In 1963, a vertical lizard pattern was developed, this replacing the French horizontal pattern. Paradoxically, the Portuguese vertical lizard pattern become popular amongst some of the guerrillas that opposed Portugal in the Overseas Wars and was later adopted by the armed forces of some of the former Portuguese African colonies after their independence. [9]
The Portuguese vertical lizard pattern was adopted by Brazil, which developed a range of colorways for each of its armed services. Egypt, Greece, India, Lebanese Palestinians and Syria have all used variants of the vertical lizard pattern. [2] SWAPO guerrillas in Namibia wore a wide variety of camouflage, including Portuguese lizard. [10]
The Vietnam War tiger stripe camouflage is descended from Lizard. It began as a French experimental pattern during the Indochina war. It was based on the TAP47 lizard pattern, and was adopted by the South Vietnamese Marines. Tiger stripe differs from lizard in having its printed areas interlocked rather than overlapped; it also used smaller areas of dyed background color. [2]
MARPAT is a multi-scale camouflage pattern in use with the United States Marine Corps, designed in 2001 and introduced from late 2002 to early 2005 with the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform (MCCUU), which replaced the Camouflage Utility Uniform. Its design and concept are based on the Canadian CADPAT pattern. The pattern is formed of small rectangular pixels of color. In theory, it is a far more effective camouflage than standard uniform patterns because it mimics the dappled textures and rough boundaries found in natural settings. It is also known as the "digital pattern" or "digi-cammies" because of its micropattern (pixels) rather than the old macropattern.
A combat uniform, also called field uniform, battledress or military fatigues, is a casual type of uniform used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for everyday fieldwork and combat duty purposes, as opposed to dress uniforms worn in functions and parades. It generally consists of a jacket, trousers and shirt or T-shirt, all cut to be looser and more comfortable than more formal uniforms. Design may depend on regiment or service branch, e.g. army, navy, air force, marines, etc. In the army branches, fabrics tend to come in camouflage, disruptive pattern or else green, brown or khaki monochrome, in order to approximate the background and make the soldier less visible in nature. In Western dress codes, field uniform is considered equivalent to civilian casual wear. As such, field uniform is considered less formal than service dress uniform, generally aimed at office or staff use, as well as mess dress uniform, and full dress uniform.
Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) is the commonly used name of a camouflage pattern used by the British Armed Forces as well as many other armed forces worldwide, particularly in former British colonies.
The Denison smock was a coverall jacket issued to Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents, the Parachute Regiment, the Glider Pilot Regiment, Air Landing Regiments, air observation post squadrons, Commando units, and other Commonwealth airborne units, to wear over their Battle Dress uniform during the Second World War, remaining in service with the British Army until the early 1970s when it was replaced by a version in the Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) smock. The garment was also issued as standard to the scout and sniper platoons of line infantry battalions.
Tiger stripe is the name of a group of camouflage patterns developed for close-range use in dense jungle during jungle warfare by the South Vietnamese Armed Forces and adopted in late 1962 to early 1963 by US Special Forces during the Vietnam War. During and after the Vietnam War, the pattern was adopted by several other Asian countries. It derives its name from its resemblance to a tiger's stripes and were simply called "tigers." It features narrow stripes that look like brush-strokes of green and brown, and broader brush-strokes of black printed over a lighter shade of olive or khaki. The brush-strokes interlock rather than overlap, as in French Lizard pattern (TAP47) from which it apparently derives.
MultiCam is a camouflage pattern designed for use in a wide range of environments and conditions which was developed and is produced by American company Crye Precision. The pattern has found extensive adoption globally. Variants of it, some unlicensed, are in use with militaries worldwide, particularly with special forces/special operations forces units.
The Kamuflirovannyy Letniy Maskirovochnyy Kombinezon or KLMK is a military uniform with a camouflage pattern developed in 1968 by the Soviet Union to overcome the widespread use of night vision optics and devices by NATO countries. This one-piece camouflage coverall became one of the most widely used in the Soviet Union.
The U.S. Woodland is a camouflage pattern that was used as the default camouflage pattern issued to the United States Armed Forces from 1981, with the issue of the Battle Dress Uniform, until its replacement in the mid to late 2000s. It is a four color, high contrast disruptive pattern with irregular markings in green, brown, sand and black. It is also known unofficially by its colloquial moniker of "M81" after the Battle Dress Uniform it was first used on, though this term was not officially used by the U.S. military.
The ERDL pattern, also known as the Leaf pattern, is a camouflage pattern developed by the United States Army at its Engineer Research & Development Laboratories (ERDL) in 1948. It was not used until the Vietnam War, when it was issued to elite reconnaissance and special operations units beginning early 1967.
Splittertarnmuster, Splittertarn or Splittermuster (splinter-pattern) is a four-colour military camouflage pattern developed by Germany in the late 1920s, first issued to the Reichswehr in 1931.
The Camouflage Central-Europe is the standard camouflage pattern of the French Armed Forces.
Jigsaw camouflage is the colloquial term for a series of camouflage patterns used by the Belgian Armed Forces between 1956 and 2022 and subsequently adapted in several other countries.
M1929 Telo mimetico was a military camouflage pattern used by the Italian Army for shelter-halves and later for uniforms for much of the 20th century. Being first issued in 1929 and only fully discontinued in the early 1990s, it has the distinction of being the first printed camouflage pattern for general issue, and the camouflage pattern in longest continuous use in the world.
Strichtarn was a military camouflage pattern developed in East Germany and used from 1965 to 1990. The pattern was also used by several other militaries and non-state forces, notably in Africa.
Frog Skin, also known as Duck Hunter, is a battledress camouflage pattern with mottle and disruptive coloration to blend into the environment similar to a frog's crypsis skin.
The Rhodesian Brushstroke is a brushstroke-type camouflage pattern used by the Rhodesian Security Forces from 1965 until its replacement by a vertical lizard stripe in 1980.
German World War II camouflage patterns formed a family of disruptively patterned military camouflage designs for clothing, used and in the main designed during the Second World War. The first pattern, Splittertarnmuster, was designed in 1931 and was initially intended for Zeltbahn shelter halves. The clothing patterns developed from it combined a pattern of interlocking irregular green, brown, and buff polygons with vertical "rain" streaks. Later patterns, all said to have been designed for the Waffen-SS by Johann Georg Otto Schick, evolved into more leaf-like forms with rounded dots or irregular shapes. Camouflage smocks were designed to be reversible, providing camouflage for two seasons, whether summer and autumn, or summer and winter (snow). Distribution was limited to the Waffen-SS, ostensibly because of a patent, though variants were used by other units, including the Luftwaffe. Production was limited by shortage of materials, especially of high quality waterproof cotton duck.
E.M.R. ; or Universal Camouflage Colourway in English, is a military camouflage pattern in use by the Russian Armed Forces. It is sometimes referred to by the unofficial nicknames RUSPAT, Tetris, Tsifra and Digital Flora. EMR camouflage is the standard camouflage pattern of the Russian Military's V.K.B.O. All-Season Uniform.
Flora is a military camouflage pattern formerly used by the Russian Armed Forces. It was adopted in 1998.