Category: Placement

Placement · U.S. Air Force

Air Force placement is the one that can be checked properly. The instruction is published openly, it carries a date, and it is specific enough to quote — so this page quotes it.

The OCP coat

Position	Where	What the instruction says
U.S. flag	Wearer’s right sleeve	“The U.S. flag will be worn with the field of blue towards the wearer’s right shoulder”
Unit or organisational patch	Wearer’s left sleeve	Worn on the left sleeve, above the duty identifier
Duty identifier patch	Wearer’s left sleeve	“centered at the top of the Velcro® area”, and it may not exceed the size of the U.S. tactical flag patch — “3-1/4″ W x 1-13/16″H”
Rank insignia	Both shoulders	Worn on both shoulders of the OCP coat, subdued
Service tape and name tape	Chest	Placement geometry is set out in the instruction’s figures and is not reproduced here
Front pockets	—	“Patches or badges will not be affixed to the front pockets”

Duty identifiers

The duty identifier is the short patch some career fields wear on the left sleeve. The instruction describes it as a “spice brown subdued cloth patch centered at the top of the Velcro® area”, worn by certain Air Force Specialty Codes while performing their duties. Table 5.1 of the instruction lists the authorised identifiers and qualification tabs for the left sleeve.

• A maximum of five letters.
• Standard spice brown subdued colour scheme.
• No larger than the tactical flag patch: 3¼ in wide by 1-13/16 in tall.
• Patches with black borders distinguish first responders and career fields that need to be identified quickly.

Why the flag faces the way it does

The reversed-field flag confuses people who assume it is a mistake or a special version. It is neither. The convention treats the wearer as a flagpole moving forward: the canton — the field of blue — leads, and the stripes stream behind. On the wearer’s right sleeve that puts the blue toward the front of the body, which from the outside looks like a mirror image of the flag on a wall.

This is why a flag patch bought without checking can end up facing the wrong way. The two versions are made and sold separately, and they are not interchangeable.

What this page does not cover

• Service dress and mess dress. Different uniforms, different rules, different chapters.
• The two-piece flight duty uniform, which has its own placement and its own exceptions — the FIRE identifier above is one of them.
• Space Force. Guardians follow SPFI 36-2903, a separate instruction with its own guidance memoranda.
• Entitlement. Which patches, tabs and badges you may wear is the substance of the instruction and is not something a placement drawing answers.
• Chest tape geometry. It is in the instruction’s figures, which are the part of a PDF that does not survive being summarised.

How to check it yourself

1. Go to Air Force e-Publishing and pull the current DAFI 36-2903. Check the date on the cover.
2. Check for a more recent guidance memorandum. These are issued between editions and they change the instruction while it stands.
3. Read Table 5.1 for duty identifiers and qualification tabs, and the OCP figures for tape and badge geometry.
4. Ask your unit. Major command supplements exist and they bind you on top of the instruction.

Related: Army OCP patch placement, Scouts BSA uniform patch placement, and how placement is measured.

Placement · U.S. Army

Which sleeve carries what on the OCP coat, and where to get the measurements. This page is deliberately short on numbers, and the reason is worth reading before you go looking for them elsewhere.

Why this page has no measurement table

Army placement is governed by two documents. AR 670-1 is the regulation; it sets policy and then explicitly hands off the detail. Its own summary of changes records that it “deletes all procedural guidance regarding uniforms, insignia, and other uniform accessories,” pointing to the pamphlet instead. DA PAM 670-1 is where the placement paragraphs and the figures actually live.

Both are published by the Army Publishing Directorate. When this page was written, that site could not be read automatically, and the copies circulating on other hosts carried four different dates — 2014, 2015, 2017 and a January 2021 edition. A measurement lifted from a superseded edition looks exactly like a current one, and there is no way to tell them apart on a patch supplier’s blog.

The two sleeves

This answers the question most people are actually asking. What side does the U.S. Army patch go on? Your unit patch — the shoulder sleeve insignia for your current organisation — goes on your left arm. The flag goes on your right. If you are looking at a photograph rather than wearing the coat, both appear on the opposite side of the picture from the side they are worn on.

What the sleeves carry, and what is not confirmed here

Item	Sleeve	Confirmed here?
U.S. flag embroidered insignia	Wearer’s right	Yes — stated in DA PAM 670-1 and consistent across sources
SSI, current organisation	Wearer’s left	Yes — stated in DA PAM 670-1, and confirmed again by Army reporting in 2025
SSI-FWTS (the combat patch)	Conventionally the wearer’s right, below the flag	Not confirmed here. Check the pamphlet
Skill tabs	Above the SSI on the left sleeve	Not confirmed here. Check the pamphlet
“U.S. ARMY” tape and nametape	Opposite chest sides	Not confirmed here. The sides and geometry are in the pamphlet
Grade insignia	Centre chest	Not confirmed here. Check the pamphlet

Every row marked “not confirmed” has a confident-looking answer on a dozen commercial sites. Some of those answers are probably right. None of them tells you which edition it came from, which is the only thing that would let you check.

One change worth knowing about

In February 2025 the Secretary of the Army issued HQDA Execute Order 123-25, directing uniformed soldiers supporting garrison operations to wear the shoulder sleeve insignia of their installation senior commander’s unit, rather than the patch they had been wearing. That changes which patch is worn, not where it goes — the SSI is still on the upper left arm.

It is a useful illustration of why dates matter on a page like this. A guide written in 2024 would have been silently wrong for a large number of soldiers within a year, and would have looked no different.

How to get the answer you can act on

1. Go to the Army Publishing Directorate and download the current DA PAM 670-1. Check the date on the cover before you read anything.
2. Read the placement paragraphs for the item you care about, not a summary of them. The figures carry the measurements.
3. If you are in a unit, ask your first-line supervisor or your unit’s command team. Local guidance exists on top of the pamphlet and it is binding on you.
4. Do not take a measurement from a patch supplier, including this site. Suppliers make the patch; they do not set where it goes.

Related: Scouts BSA uniform patch placement is the guide on this site where the source could be read and quoted in full, and how placement is measured covers the reference points every one of these publications uses.

Placement · Scouts BSA

Where each badge sits on the Scouts BSA field uniform shirt, taken from the two publications that govern it rather than from another website. Every position below is quoted, and the date it was checked is on the page.

A note on the names

The organisation is now Scouting America. The name changed from Boy Scouts of America on 8 February 2025, announced the previous May. The programme names did not change: it is still Cub Scouting, Scouts BSA, Venturing, Sea Scouts and Exploring.

For uniforms this matters very little. New shirts carry “Scouting America” lettering over the right pocket; everything else is the same, existing uniforms stay valid, and no insignia moved. If you are searching for “Boy Scout patch placement”, this is the page you want — the positions are unchanged.

The positions

Sleeves

Both sleeves are numbered from the shoulder seam downwards. Position 1 sits directly below the seam on each side.

Mark	Item	What the source says
R1	U.S. flag emblem	“right sleeve, position 1, just below shoulder seam” (33066). The checklist gives it as “U.S. flag emblem centered directly below shoulder seam”
R2	Patrol emblem	Right sleeve, below the flag. See the note on numbering below
R3	Journey to Excellence award	Right sleeve, position 3. The adult leader checklist places this one “4 inches below the shoulder seam”
R4	Merit badges	“right sleeve (long-sleeve shirt only), position 4, limited to six” (33066)
L1	Council shoulder emblem	“left sleeve, position 1, just below shoulder seam” (33066)
L2	Unit numeral	“left sleeve, position 2, touching council shoulder emblem if veteran unit bar is not worn” (33066). The checklist: emblem, numeral and veteran bar “are worn as shown snug up and touching each other”
L3	Badge of office	“left sleeve, position 3” (33066). The adult leader checklist gives the same position as “centered and touching the unit numeral, or centered 4 inches below the shoulder seam”

Pockets and the chest

Mark	Item	What the source says
A	Jamboree insignia	“National or world jamboree insignia (only one) worn above the BSA program or corporate strip” (510-784)
B	Program strip, interpreter strips, nameplate	The strip goes “above right pocket” (33066). “Nameplate, if worn, is centered above the program or corporate strip” (510-784)
C	Order of the Arrow lodge insignia	“worn on pocket flap” (510-784). The Guide adds that it “fits the exact size and shape of right pocket flap and may not extend beyond this size and shape in any way”
D	Temporary insignia	“worn centered on the pocket or hung from the button” (510-784)
E	World Crest emblem	“centered horizontally over left pocket and vertically between left shoulder seam and top of pocket” (33066)
F	Service stars, square knots, medals	Service stars “centered above the pocket, ¾ inch from top point to top point and ⅜ inch from either the pocket”. Square knots “centered above the pocket in rows of three”. “Not more than five medals may be worn, pinned centered immediately above the pocket” (510-784)
G	Badge of rank	“Badges of rank are worn centered on the pocket above the Arrow of Light Award” (510-784). The Guide gives it simply as “left pocket”
H	Arrow of Light Award	“below left pocket” (33066)

The merit badge sash is not shown on the drawing because it is not on the shirt. The Guide places it “over right shoulder”, and it “may be worn under or over epaulet”. The den chief cord goes the other way — “over the left shoulder, under epaulet”.

What this page does not cover

• Cub Scouting, Venturing and Sea Scouts. Different programmes, different sheets, different positions. Do not read across from this page.
• Adult leader uniforms. Several positions differ, and there is a separate inspection sheet for them.
• Which insignia you are entitled to wear, how many, and in what combination. That is the substance of the Guide and it is not something a placement drawing can answer.
• Older uniform styles. The Guide covers the Centennial uniform separately, and the badge of office moves.

How to check this yourself

1. Open the Guide to Awards and Insignia and find the section for your programme. It is the governing document; everything else, including this page, is a reading of it.
2. Download the Field Uniform Checklist, Scouts BSA. It is one page, it is the most precise source for measurements, and it is what an inspection is actually scored against.
3. Check the revision date on whatever you download. Both documents are revised, and a figure from an old edition looks exactly like a figure from the current one.
4. Ask your unit leader or council advancement chair about anything that is still unclear. Local practice on temporary insignia and unit-specific items varies more than the paperwork suggests.

Related: how placement is measured covers the reference points and conventions used across every guide on this site, and how to apply a patch covers sewing badges onto a uniform shirt without puckering it.

The military guides on this site follow the same rule: Air Force OCP placement and Army OCP placement.