Description
Tiger stripe is the name of a group of camouflage patterns developed for close-range use in dense jungles during jungle warfare by the South Vietnamese Armed Forces and adopted in late 1962 to early 1963 by US Special Forces during the Vietnam War. During and after the Vietnam War, the pattern was adopted by several other Asian countries. It derives its name from its resemblance to a tiger's stripes and was simply called "tigers." It features narrow stripes that look like brush-strokes of green and brown, and broader brush-strokes of black printed over a lighter shade of olive or khaki. The brush-strokes interlock rather than overlap, as in the French Lizard pattern (TAP47) from which it derives.
It is unclear who developed the first tiger stripe pattern, consisting of 64 stripes. The French used a similar pattern (Lizard) in their war in Vietnam.[citation needed] After the French left Vietnam, the Republic of Vietnam Marine Division continued using the pattern, a variant of which was later adopted by Vietnamese Rangers (Biệt Động Quân)and Special Forces (Lực Lượng Đặc Biệt). When the United States began sending advisors to South Vietnam, USMAAG advisors attached to the ARVN were authorized to wear their Vietnamese unit's combat uniform with US insignia. Soon, many American special operations forces in the Vietnamese theater of operations wore the pattern, despite not always being attached to ARVN units: it became the visible trademark of Marine Corps Recon, Green Berets, LRRPs, SEALs, and other elite forces.
Tiger stripe was never an official US-issue item. At first, personnel permitted to wear it had their camo fatigues custom-made by local tailors, with ARVN uniforms being too small for most Americans; for this reason, there were many variations of the basic tiger stripe pattern. In 1963, Marine Corps Advisors and from 1964, the 5th Special Forces Group of the Green Berets contracted with Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian producers to make fatigues and other items such as boonie hats using tiger stripe fabric. Being manufactured by different producers in places like Thailand, Korea, and Okinawa, Japan, there was a wide variety of patterns and color shade variations. They were made in both Asian and US sizes.
During the latter stages of the war, the tiger stripe was gradually replaced in American reconnaissance units by the then-new ERDL pattern, a predecessor of the US four-color woodland pattern. The Special Forces-advised Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) used tiger stripe from 1963 until it disbanded in 1971. Special Forces personnel wore tiger stripes when conducting operations with the CIDG.
Besides American and ARVN forces, Australian and New Zealand military personnel used tiger stripe uniforms while advising the ARVN units. Personnel from the Australian Special Air Service Regiment and the New Zealand Special Air Service were the principal wearers of tigerstripe uniforms (and ERDL uniforms) in theater, while regular Australian and New Zealand troops wore the standard-issue olive drab green uniforms.
Outside of Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines have been the most prolific manufacturers of tiger stripe designs since the Vietnam War. The pattern became popular throughout the Middle East and South America as well.
The pattern was tested by the USMC before the adoption of MARPAT through the Scout Sniper Instructor School.
