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Welcome to Camopedia

The Camopedia website is a living document, providing a comprehensive, accurate, and academically-supported database referencing all of the major military and paramilitary camouflage patterns that have been in use around the world since the beginning of the 20th century. This reference is available as a free resource for historians, government agencies, military personnel, collectors, artists & designers, airsoft & MILSIM enthusiasts, military modelers, and all others with an interest in camouflage design, development, and history.

This website and all it contains is copyrighted 2010-2022 -- All rights reserved. We ask that a courteous reference to Camopedia please be made whenever you choose to cite, paraphrase, or otherwise utilize the information presented here in any other format. This includes blog entries, videos, forum posts, printed matter, et al. All text and photographs (except where specifically credited to other sources) on this site remain our exclusive intellectual property.

Although we have been inspired and assisted by numerous other scholars and researchers, the contents presented here are primarily based on the conclusions of our own independent research. Whenever possible, we have made every effort to independently verify traditional sources of identification, and in many cases have made discoveries that are presented to the public here for the first time. In a very few instances, we have opted to make educated inferences regarding the identification of certain designs or samples taken from extant specimens; these cases are noted individually as unverified whenever possible. Primary sources for our data include: information from official government or military publications and nomenclature, period photographs from a variety of primary sources, physical specimens (with provenance), published material, and unpublished material from academic or military sources that can be verified. This site prides itself on having rigid standards for verification, and although our sources are not always cited nor every piece of evidence presented, the visitor can rest assured that such documentation has been vetted and would be available for review in the event some information presented here was questioned. For a thorough explanation of the methodology developed specifically for this site, please refer to the special section on Research Methodology for Camouflage Uniform Collectors.

Although we have done our best to give credit for supportive source material when appropriate, all of the text presented here is our own and we take full responsibility for any errors or mistakes encountered. As a living document, sections of the site are constantly being updated as new information becomes available to us.

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of fellow collectors, historians, military personnel, and published authors - particularly fellow members of the International Camouflage Uniform Society (ICUS) and the Camopedia Patreon - for their support, contributions, and assistance in clarifying data for this site. Where appropriate, these individuals are credited individually in the appropriate sections or on the Donors page.

Original submissions, corrections and supplemental information are welcomed and appreciated, in order for the site to expand. Individuals whose input substantially adds to the content of individual pages will be credited in the appropriate section(s). We encourage anyone with clear photographic examples of patterns not represented herein (or those represented only by photographs borrowed from the public domain) to submit them so we may add to and improve the site. Any data to be considered for inclusion on this site should be appropriately documented with source material. By submitting materials (including photographs) to this site, you have granted us permission to use them in perpetuity, free of charge, and without any guarantee of credit or acknowledgement.

Should you have any comments please send email to: icus@camouflagesociety.org

Thank you for patronizing this site,

Eric H Larson, Executive Editor

COUNTRIES

We have based the organization of this site on the geographical and composition system utilized by the United Nations. As with most classification systems, this one is not perfect and may cause some confusion or consternation with the occasional visitor to our site. Please understand we utilize the system only to maintain a standard, and not as a symbol of embracing a particular political outlook. We understand that a few of the countries listed here consider themselves part of a different region or continent, and respect the cultural significance of this affiliation. For reference purposes the United Nations' classification system can be found here: United Nations Geographical Regions

AFRICA

• Algeria

• Angola

• Benin

• Biafra

• Botswana

• Burkina Faso

• Burundi

• Cameroon

• Cape Verde

• Central African Republic

• Chad

• Comoros

• Democratic Republic of Congo

• Republic of Congo

• Côte d'Ivoire

• Djibouti

• Egypt

• Equatorial Guinea

• Eritrea

• Ethiopia

• Gabon

• Gambia

• Ghana

• Guinea

• Guinea-Bissau

• Katanga

• Kenya

• Lesotho

• Liberia

• Libya

• Madagascar

• Malawi

• Mali

• Mauritania

• Mauritius

• Morocco

• Mozambique

• Namibia

• Niger

• Nigeria

• Rhodesia

• Rwanda

• São Tomé and Príncipe

• Senegal

• Seychelles

• Sierra Leone

• Somalia

• South Africa

• South Africa - Bophuthatswana

• South Africa - Ciskei

• South Africa - Gazankulu

• South Africa - Ka Ngwane

• South Africa - Kwa Ndebele

• South Africa - Kwa Zulu

• South Africa - Lebowa

• South Africa - Qwa Qwa

• South Africa - Transkei

• South Africa - Venda

• South Sudan

• South West Africa

• Sudan

• Swaziland

• Tanzania

• Togo

• Tunisia

• Uganda

• Western Sahara

• Zaire

• Zambia

• Zimbabwe

ASIA

• Afghanistan

• Armenia

• Azerbaijan

• Bahrain

• Bangladesh

• Bhutan

• Brunei

• Burma (Myanmar)

• Cambodia

• China

• Cyprus

• East Timor (Timor-Leste)

• Georgia

• India

• Indonesia

• Iran

• Iraq

• Israel

• Japan

• Jordan

• Kazakhstan

• Kurdistan

• Kuwait

• Kyrgyzstan

• Laos

• Lebanon

• Malaysia

• Maldives

• Mongolia

• Nepal

• North Korea

• Oman

• Pakistan

• Palestine

• Philippines

• Republic of Vietnam

• Qatar

• Saudi Arabia

• Singapore

• South Korea

• Sri Lanka

• Syria

• Taiwan (Republic of China)

• Tajikistan

• Thailand

• Turkmenistan

• Turkey

• United Arab Emirates

• Uzbekistan

• Vietnam

• Yemen Arab Republic

• Yemen (Democratic Republic)

• Yemen

EUROPE

• Albania

• Austria

• Belarus

• Belgium

• Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Bulgaria

• Croatia

• Czechoslovakia

• Czech Republic

• Denmark

• East Germany

• Estonia

• Finland

• France

• Germany - after 1945 & Unified

• Germany (Third Reich)

• Greece

• Hungary

• Iceland

• Ireland

• Italy

• Kosovo

• Latvia

• Lithuania

• Luxembourg

• Macedonia

• Malta

• Moldova

• Montenegro

• Netherlands

• Norway

• Poland

• Portugal

• Romania

• Russia

• Serbia

• Serbian Krajina

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Spain

• Srpska Republic

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Ukraine

• United Kingdom

• USSR (the Soviet Union)

• Yugoslavia

NORTH AMERICA

• Canada

• USA (United States of America)

CENTRAL AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN

• Antigua and Barbuda

• Bahamas (Commonwealth of)

• Barbados

• Belize

• Costa Rica

• Cuba

• Dominican Republic

• El Salvador

• Guatemala

• Haiti

• Honduras

• Jamaica

• Mexico

• Nicaragua

• Panama

• Puerto Rico

• Saint Kitts and Nevis

• Saint Lucia

• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

• Trinidad and Tobago

SOUTH AMERICA

• Argentina

• Bolivia

• Brazil

• Chile

• Colombia

• Ecuador

• Guyana (Cooperative Republic)

• Paraguay

• Peru

• Suriname

• Uruguay

• Venezuela

OCEANIA

• Australia

• Fiji (Republic of)

• New Zealand

• Papua New Guinea

• Tonga

• Vanuatu

Camouflage Pattern "Families"

• Brushstroke - British WW2 pattern derivatives

• Chocolate Chip - US six-color desert and its derivatives

• Digital patterns (CADPAT, MARPAT etc.)

• DPM (British) - Disruptive Pattern Material

• Duck hunter - US M1942 spot pattern derivatives

• Flecktarn - the German flecktarnmuster and its derivatives

• Leaf - US M1948 ERDL derivatives

• Lizard - French or Portuguese pattern derivatives

• Puzzle - "jigsaw puzzle" patterns (Belgium, Yugoslavia etc.)

• Rain - used by many Warsaw Pact Countries

• Splinter - German WW2 Wehrmacht, Bulgaria, Sweden etc.

• Tiger stripe - Vietnam War era pattern

• Woodland - US M1981 derivatives

Camouflage on Military Vehicles

Camouflage on Military Vehicles

Camouflage on military aircraft

Camouflage on military aircraft

Camouflage on naval vessels

Camouflage on naval vessels

Camouflage Film and Television

Camouflage in Film and Television

Fakes and Reproductions

Fakes and Reproductions

Commercial Camouflage Patterns

Commercial Camouflage Patterns

Dedication

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Jean F. Borsarello, Mr. Michael Powlen, and Mr Yves Debay - mentors, colleagues and friends. Each of these distinguished gentlemen made significant contributions to the field of military camouflage studies at a time when very little research was available from any sources, so it is to them we owe a huge debt of gratitude. Their devotion to this obscure field of study is a model we may all hope to emulate.