Colors Of Concealment: Military Camouflage

Camouflage is a method of cryptic or concealing coloration that allows an otherwise visible organism or object to remain indiscernible from the surrounding environment through deception. Nineteenth century armies tended to use bright colors and bold, impressive designs. These were intended to daunt the enemy, attract recruits, foster unit cohesion, or allow easier identification of units in the fog of war.

It wasn’t until the 18th century that the intent of camouflage started to disrupt an
outline by merging it with the surroundings, making a harder target to spot or hit.
Different countries have undergone different evolutionary stages towards the
development of military camouflage.

Here is an assortment of camouflage from around the world, chosen for their unusual patterns or colors.

belgium_fleck_pattern.jpg
Belgian Fleck
Fleck pattern used by the Belgian Army
bulgaria_dpm_pattern.jpg
Bulgarian DPM
DPM pattern used by the Bulgarian troops deployed to SFOR (Bosnia) and KFOR (Kosovo)

cssr_leibermuster_pattern.jpg
Leibermuster
CSSR Leibermuster pattern used by Czechoslovakian airborne troops and special forces during the 1960’s
denmark_t78_pattern.jpg
Denmark T78
Denmark T78 pattern introduced in Denmark in 1978 for tests.

na_lizard_pattern.jpg
N.A. Lizard
Lizard pattern used by troops of the Northern Alliance who fought the Taliban regime in Afghanistan
namibia_lizzard_pattern.jpg
Namibia Lizard
Lizard pattern from Namibia

korea_mil_academy_pattern.jpg
Korean Academy
S. Korean Military Academy pattern worn during Military Training classes in South Korean high schools during the 1970’s and 80’s
hungary_coverall_pattern.jpg
Hungarian Coverall
Coverall pattern used by the Hungarian army and Border Guards (Ministry of Interior)

czech_desert_pattern.jpg
Czech Desert
Czech desert pattern
china_marines_oceancamo_pattern.jpg
China Ocean
Ocean Camo pattern used by the Chinese Marines and Navy

benin_airborne_pattern.jpg
Benin Airborne
Airborne pattern used by the airborne troops of Benin
indonesia_ampg_pattern.jpg
Indonesian AMPG
Indonesian ampg pattern used by members of the youth wing of the Golkar Party

malaysia_kn_pattern.jpg
Malaysian KN
Malaysian kn pattern used by conscripts serving in the National Service (Khidmat Negara)
libya_africa_corps_pattern.jpg
Libyan AC
Libyan Africa Corps pattern possibly use by the “Africa Corps” of Colonel Qaddafi of Libya

jorden_digital_customs_pattern.jpg
Jordanian Customs
Jordan digital customs pattern used by the Jordanian Royal Navy service
indonesia_kopassus_pattern.jpg
Blood Vine
Indonesian kopassus pattern, often called “blood vine”

philippines_psg_pattern.jpg
Philippine psg
Philippine psg pattern used by the Presidential Security Group
taiwan_tigerstripe_pattern.jpg
Taiwan Tiger Stripe
Tigerstripe pattern used by the Taiwanese Marine Corps

usa_desertnightcamouflage_pattern.jpg
Desert Night
U.S. Desert Night Camouflage pattern, developed to be hard to see in older generation night vision devices (hence the mesh pattern that would interfere with the square dots used by night vision devices)
oman_red_desert_pattern.jpg
Red Desert
Red Desert pattern used by Omani Armed Forces

hungary_jacket_pattern.jpg
Hungarian Jacket
Hungarian jacket pattern used by the Hungarian Workers Militia (part of the Communist Party).
cuba_elm_leaf_pattern.jpg
Cuban Elm
Elm Leaf pattern used by Cuban forces – for example during their involvement in Africa

usa_navy_digital_exp_pattern.jpg
USN Digital
U.S. Navy digital experimental pattern. A number of camouflage patterns etc. were tested by the US Navy.

Source: Wikipedia

Thanks again to our guest author Chris for putting together another great post. Check out his site CARDGAZER and the original post here.

Author: evad
David Sommers has been loving color as COLOURlovers' Blog Editor-in-Chief for the past two years. When he's not neck deep in a rainbow he's loving other things with The Post Family (http://thepostfamily.com/), a Chicago-based art blog, artist collective & gallery.