There are various badges and patches that Indian army soldiers wear, some of them are wore by commandos. Achieving a medal, badge or a patch is special for any Indian army soldier, and he keeps closer to his heart. One of our friends Sabari Vinayak has worked very hard to decode the badges(and we appreciate his effort). We hope you find it very informative. Let’s decode Indian Armed Force Soldiers’s wide assortment of insignia, ribbons, medals, badges, tabs and patches.
Skydiver Patch is awarded for airborne soldiers who are in “army adventure sky diving team.”
Paramotor Pilot Patch
Selected soldiers from Parachute Regiment consists of PARA (Airborne) and PARA (SF) Battalions undergo specialized training for paramotor flying. The soldiers who pass and qualified are awarded with Paramotor Pilot Patch. These soldiers will be part of 50 (I) Para Brigade, (pathfinders) en masse using Paramotors.
Coveted Commando Dagger Badge
The physically robust infantry soldiers who reflect his performance at the ‘Ghatak Course, where awarded ‘Commando Dagger’. It is mandatory for all infantry officers to pass the Commando Training Course. This badge qualifies the soldier as commando school instructor.National Security Guard Badges- The NSG is divided into two groups – the Special Action Group (SAG) and the Special Rangers Group (SRG).
The SAG, which comprises 54% of the force, is the elite, offensive wing with members drawn from the Indian Army.
The SRG, on the other hand, has members on deputation from central police organisations like the Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Rapid Action Force (RAF). The primary function of the SRG is to play a supportive role to the SAF, especially in isolating target areas.
But there is one group called 26 Special Composite Group (26 SCG) in which commandos of both SAG & SRG commandos operate together. It is a specialised group in which commandos from both groups carry our Operations & tasks together.
Note : SAG badge which is trident with wings is made same for all NSG members recently. Now they all wear the same badge.
Indian Army Sharpshooter Badge aka Shooting Instructor Qualified
The Army Marksmanship Unit trains soldiers for sports shooting as well as military shooting. Who qualifies the course with high points for example out of 40 targets you must shoot 35/35+ to earn the sharpshooter badge. This badges qualifies the soldier as combat shooting instructor.Qualified Mountaineer Instructor / Qualified Mountaineer (Climb Leader)
Awarded for the soldiers who reflect his/her performance at the Mountaineering course were awarded Qualified Mountaineer Instructor / Qualified Mountaineer (Climb Leader). This badge can be seen with blue background also.Army Markmanship Unit (AMU) Badge
Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) part of Infantry School which trains soldiers to become into a deadly sniper also trains them compete and win in marksmanship competitions. Soldiers who represented India in shooting competitions wear AMU badge with India written on it.Arjuna Award
Awarded for outstanding individual achievements in National Sports. Arjuna Awards are given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in sports.MARCOS Sleeve Patch
MARCOS Sleeve Patch is authorized and awarded for soldiers of the Indian Navy Marine Commando, equivalent to the Special Forces shoulder tab/patch of Para SF.MARCOS Badge
MARCOS Badge earned after successful completion of the probation. Getting selected to be trained as a MARCO itself is difficult. The pre-training procedure, which includes a three-day physical fitness and aptitude test, sees almost 80% applicants being screened out. And it gets worse. A five-week-long �?hell’s week’ follows this, which includes sleep deprivation and intense physical training. Those that make it through, or don’t quit on their own, actually proceed to the actual training.Combat Free Fall Badge
Earned after combat free fall course, 50 jumps from 33,500 feet (10,200 metres) learning both HAHO (High altitude high opening) and HALO (High altitude low opening) jumps from PTS, Agra.
Indian Army Commendation Badge
Army Commendation (the term “Army” encompasses all GOsC-in-C, ARTRAC and VCOAS with respect to award of Commendation Badges) is awarded to any member, other than General Officers, of the Armed Forces that distinguishes himself or herself by heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service.Special Forces Tab
The Special Forces shoulder tab/patch, originally approved in 2006 succeeding the “COMMANDO” tab/patch, is authorized and awarded for soldiers of the Indian Army Para Special Forces after the successful completion of grueling probationary period.Balidaan Badge
This badge is worn by the Indian Army’s Para Special Forces. Balidaan Badge is earned by just 4-5 volunteers out of selected 100. You really have to be the best to earn it. The Balidaan Badge is only for SF badged members. This includes doctors posted in the unit and has completed probation and service requirements. It is also awarded for first confirmed kill.50th (Independent) Parachute Brigade
50th (Independent) Parachute Brigade comes directly under DGMO Indian Army and can be put into action in less then 2 hours.The Special Forces (Airborne) units in rotation form part of the parachute brigade alternatively serving their field tenures in counter-insurgency/high altitude areas. One of the eight SF battalions too serves in the brigade on rotation. One of the two field regiments (9 Para Fd Regt and 17 Para Fd Regt) also forms part of the brigade while the other serves out its field tenure on rotation.
A Parachutist Badge / Para Jump Wings / Paratrooper Wing is earned by the soldier he/she after the successful completion of Parachute Basic Course from Paratroopers Training School, Agra . This wings was formerly worn on the upper right sleeve but since, 1975 appears above the right chest pocket and name tab.
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