Use and History of Custom Pins in the Army

Online, November 29, 2013 (Newswire.com) - One of the many uses of lapel pins is in the army. The world over, lapel pins are used in the army to help army personnel know their ranks, achieve more and gain respect. Lapel pins help in many innovative ways and that's why they have been used by Government to designate people according to their ranks, through the use of custom lapel pins.

How are lapel pins useful in the Army?

Representatives in the army have the symbolic representatives of faith - custom pins have experienced many changes in all these years. The military chaplaincy was first introduced by the Continental Congress in the year 1775 and went through many changes in terms of its dress code, until it had the first official insignia included in the year 1880. In the year 1880, the first official insignia was introduced when shoulder boards were authorized for the chaplains.

What we already know…

Taking a view from the U.S perspective, we all know that for majority of the U.S. military chaplains, the Latin cross has been the religious symbol for a long time now. However, the first official chaplain insignia was the 'shepherd's crook' or the 'staff'. The shepherd's crook, which was authorized in General Order Number 10, remained in use by chaplains from February 1880 to May 1888. The Latin cross replaced the shepherd's crook and became the official insignia for chaplains in the year 1898. However, the military design custom lapel pins in such a way that the shepherd's crook is included in it, despite it not being the official insignia for individual chaplains anymore. This is mainly because of the historic importance that the shepherd's crook holds in military history.

Until the Civil War, Jewish chaplains did not serve the military. However, the issue of having an insignia for the Jewish chaplain rose not until the World War I. it was then and after various proposals and discussions, that three options were finally chosen of whether the Jewish chaplains be allowed to wear the lapel pins or not, a common insignia be chosen for all, and Jewish chaplains wearing not insignia at all. Till the time it could be decided, the military chaplains actually went ahead with Jewish not wearing any insignia. However, in the end, it was decided that a separate custom pin be designed for the Jewish chaplains. The Jewish insignia decided upon include an image of the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, with Roman numerals indicating the commandments and a small six-pointed Jewish star on top.

Today, lapel pins are used almost everywhere and is a testimony to their popularity. It tells about how a little thing like a custom lapel pin can hold an importance that is huge in our lives.