Anyone recognize this cloth paratrooper wing.  It has zig zag stitching around the perimeter edging that you see on Rhodesian paratroooper wings but this does not look Rhodesian.  It has a little age to it maybe 1960s.  The design itself is similar to a British paratrooper wing that was copied by many of the commonwealth countries.  The color combination I have seen on a couple of Belgium paratrooper wings so it might be an early Belgium paratrooper wing.  Any ideas?

 

 

Dennis, I believe you are correct. It looks like an early Belgium parachute badge. I have one that is real close to it without the zig zag stitching.

Thanks for the identification.

This is another beret which I guess to be Belgian with unknown paratrooper patch. It is marked ABL Cofabeba 1975 and has the owners name, Vilain, written in. I have owned for over 25 years, I know no history on this one was a gun show pickup. Any information and identification would be welcome.

Tim

 

 

 

 

 

On 9/27/2021 at 7:03 AM, Outtair said:

This is another beret which I guess to be Belgian with unknown paratrooper patch. It is marked ABL Cofabeba 1975 and has the owners name, Vilain, written in. I have owned for over 25 years, I know no history on this one was a gun show pickup. Any information and identification would be welcome.

Tim

 

 

 

 

 

Just saw this and you appear to have a scarce theater made paratrooper wing that could be Belgium but the same pattern and colors were also used by the British and a couple of their commonwealth countries like India.   It looks older than the beret but I don't think there is anyway of determining the exact era of manufacture.   The Belgium military were in the Congo but I think they left in the 1960s.  I don't have a photo but I've seen a similar British made paratrooper wing with a larger than normal tan colored background material identified as a Royal Marine jump wing.

On 10/23/2021 at 12:10 AM, Tonomachi said:

Just saw this and you appear to have a scarce theater made paratrooper wing that could be Belgium but the same pattern and colors were also used by the British and a couple of their commonwealth countries like India.   It looks older than the beret but I don't think there is anyway of determining the exact era of manufacture.   The Belgium military were in the Congo but I think they left in the 1960s.  I don't have a photo but I've seen a similar British made paratrooper wing with a larger than normal tan colored background material identified as a Royal Marine jump wing.

I have been a Belgium Paratrooper in 1982. This was nothing official in 1975.

 

I found a photograph of a copy of the British Royal Marine paratrooper wing I mentioned above that is similar to the one on the beret.   The numbers at the base of this wing mean nothing as there were a series of copies made in this fashion to fool collectors as they were all bogus.