Military Oddities

Back in the late seventies, the Swiss Army was busy developing a new camouflage. It had bright red in its pattern and most people laughed at it. It turns out the Swiss were on to something and their design happened to be the most effective pattern worldwide. The Bird Watchers Association at the time even named it so. In 1994, after it was finally released to the public, we tried to set up a photo shoot. When we first encountered the pattern we thought it was so interesting we hired models and a professional photographer. We thought it would be nice to do this out in the wilderness somewhere but of course—this being such an effective pattern—it was nearly impossible to capture. We had to have the photos taken out in the complete open. Our owner was the first to name it Alpenflage (after the Swiss Alps, of course). He was completely shocked to hear a general in Switzerland use the term a few years later—fast forward a few more years and that's what it is commonly called. It's true. Now you know a bit more about Alpenflage Camo.

The term "rain" pattern refers to a camouflage design that incorporates a heavy percentage of vertically-aligned "straits" or "flecks" which suggest an image of falling rain.

I get asked quite often why the flag is backward, the short answer is... it's not. The flag should always be displayed in the direction of travel or appear as if it is blowing in the wind.