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protection as well as propinquity led the Boer War of 1899 - 1902 that British soldiers
Crusaders to wear their small decorative started wearing regulation methods of
crosses over the heart. This may well be why personal identity and these later evolved to be
military decorations are worn on the left. Identity Discs.

CHEVRON Identity tags have become mandatory in many
Armies today, including the SAF, and it is
The word chevron is French for “rafter.” As convenient and comfortable to be adorned
often happens, however, the French Army around the neck.
today uses another word, gallon (“stripe”),
where we use the word “chevron.” The purpose of the identity disc was to
identify a body or a badly wounded soldier.
When the practice was started of decorating Should a soldier be killed, other members of
shields, the problem soon arose of how to his Platoon were required to recover the round
achieve the necessary variety. Since all disc for return to headquarters to allow for
primitive design makes use of straight lines notification of next of kin, without mistakes
and geometric patterns, the earliest variations about soldiers of similar name. The oval disc
were the cross; the “bend” (a diagonal stripe was to be placed inside the mouth of the
from the shield’s upper right to its lower left corpse, being the place most likely to protect
one going the other way was the “bend it and to keep it in-site. This was so, even if
sinister,” symbol of illegitimacy); the “bar” (a time and manpower allowed for battlefield
horizontal stripe); the “pale” (a vertical burial. In all possible cases men buried on the
stripe); the “saltire” (a diagonal cross or “X”); battlefield were later transferred to proper
a checkerboard pattern; and a chevron (two War Cemeteries. Without ID discs, mistakes
lines or stripes meeting at an angle). would have been common. The blood group
was added to the discs to assist battlefield
When a simple but distinctive sleeve device medical teams. Denomination of religion was
was needed to indicate rank, the chevron was also added to allow proper burial
undoubtedly appropriated from heraldry.
arrangements.

IDENTITY DISC

Since Medieval times, countless soldiers have
been buried in graves, which are marked with
a single word, “Unknown”. It was not until the