USMC-EOD
Active member
A young collector friend of mine recently picked up this shoulder board. The number has a faint pink/rose colored Regimental number.
He has heard that there were units that used a lighter, rose colored number instead of the normal poppy red color normally seen.
I told him that I thought the red color had likely faded to this rose/pink color over time due to the dye used and exposure to UV light. I am not an expert on shoulder boards at all, and would really appreciate some help for this younger collector from some of the more seasoned collectors here on this site.
Would this shoulder board number have originally been dark red? Is it faded?
Thank you.
Bryan.
He has heard that there were units that used a lighter, rose colored number instead of the normal poppy red color normally seen.
I told him that I thought the red color had likely faded to this rose/pink color over time due to the dye used and exposure to UV light. I am not an expert on shoulder boards at all, and would really appreciate some help for this younger collector from some of the more seasoned collectors here on this site.
Would this shoulder board number have originally been dark red? Is it faded?
Thank you.
Bryan.
, but after 21.9.1915 the regulations prescribed 45 mm wide shoulder straps with white piping for (almost all) the infantry, the "71" certainly looks like faded red (I have similar faded shoulder straps in my collection), and imo this would be the shoulder strap for IR 71, RIR 71 or LIR 71 valid from 21.9.1915. On photos you will typically see these shoulder straps from early/middle 1916, it took some time to roll out the new pattern.