DOG TAG
HISTORY
The
military dog tags we know had their origins during WWI
(1914-1918). Before that soldiers used various ad hoc methods of
tagging themselves for purposes of identification in the event of
death on the battle field. The concept of “identification tags”
dates back to the Civil War (1861-1865) where names were written on
paper tags and pinned to clothing, dog tags were made out of wood
with carved holes at the end so they could be worn around the neck
on a string and coins were smoothed over for engraving name and unit
number.
The first introduction of a metal "identity disc" took place in 1906
and by 1913 the Army made ID tags mandatory. In 1916 a second tag
was added, and by 1917 all combat troops had aluminum id tags
hanging from their necks on either a rope or chain. The information
on these tags was hand stamped with tool and die. Next came an
oblong shape tag with more uniform printing known as the Navy/Marine
style tag. The materials used to make this tag included brass and a
“Monel” metal which provided more corrosion resistance.
The more familiar rounded-end rectangular stainless steel tags known
as the M1940 were introduced by the Army in 1940 during the Second
World War (1939-1945). These Army dog tags were embossed with
letters and numbers using either manual or electric embossing
machines resembling industrial size typewriters. By 1943 the Army
was distributing sets of tags including one long chain, one short
chain and two stainless steel tags. The chains had flat links…the
beaded chain came later. The purpose of the short chain was to keep
the tags separated to prevent them from making noise in the field.
In addition, the small chain could be separated from the long chain
for purposes of body identification. It was typically placed on the
foot and left exposed while the body remained covered.
Prior to 1959 the Navy and Marine Corps used a circular metal tag
with similar stamping information to the Army dog tag. By 1959 all
branches of the U.S. armed forces were using the familiar stainless
steel rectangular shaped dog tag which are still being used today.
Even though there are slight variations in the format among the
branches of the armed forces the content of the embossed information
remains the same: Last and first name, social security number,
branch of service, initials for both blood type and religious
affiliation.
During the Vietnam War (1963-1975) subdued black dog tags were
issued to Special Operation Forces operating behind enemy lines. It
was also during this time that the WWII white hard plastic or rubber
silencers were replaced with a softer black rubber silencer.
Today, military dog tags have entered the fashion and business
promotional products arena. Dog tags are a unique way to promote
your name, logo or message and are available from us in a variety of
styles and configurations. We offer traditional military embossed
dog tags with your personal information with either
ball chain or
split ring for keys. For logos and other original designs we offer
laser engraved and colored custom dog tags. For full color
logos we offer our highly unique four color process printed novelty
personalized dog tags with optional laser engraving on the second
side. Dog tag silencers are available in traditional black as well
as many other colors. We are also a discount distributor of
dog tag
supplies including blank dog tags in both stainless steel and
aluminum,
silver and brass ball chains,
split rings, jump rings and
rubber silencers.
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