About This Quiz
Deception and concealment have always played a significant role in warfare, but it wasn’t until World War I that camouflage became regular and systematic.
The Western Front was the breaking point, where the proximity of the opposing trenches and the use of aerial reconnaissance made it easy to detect troops both behind and on the front lines. Armies urgently needed to find new ways to hide from enemy forces, as well as a way to observe and deceive them.
The French Army became the first army in the world to create a dedicated camouflage system in 1915. The word "camouflage" comes from a French verb that means "to make up for the stage." The following year, the British Army followed their lead and established its own camouflage section.
Since then, many nations have developed their own styles of camouflage, and different military branches use different camo patterns.
How well do you know the military camouflage patterns of the world? Can you match a camouflage to the right military branch? Take this quiz to find out!
The three-color desert camo pattern was introduced in the early 1990s for U.S. Army combat staff. Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in 1990, leading to Operation Desert Storm, and U.S. troops needed a camouflage uniform to suit the desert environment.
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Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) is a camo pattern adopted in the mid-2010s by the United States Army. It is used as the U.S. Army’s main camouflage pattern on uniforms.
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In 2016, the U.S. Navy started transitioning from the Navy Working Uniform (NWU) Type I to the NWU Type III. As of October 2019, all Sailors will be wearing the NWU type III as their primary working uniform.
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The Australian Multicam Camouflage Uniform is the current official battledress camouflage pattern for the Australian Army. It was issued in 2014. The Australian military first started producing camouflage uniforms during the Vietnam War.
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The Airman Battle Uniform (A.B.U.) is a service-distinctive U.S. camouflage battledress uniform. It is primarily used by the United States Air Force.
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The Navy Working Uniform Type I (N.W.U.) is still currently used by the United States Navy, but it will be completely replaced with N.W.U. Type II in 2019. It is a “working” uniform, which means it was made to be more durable and utilitarian.
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U.S. Woodland is a camouflage pattern that used to be used by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. Today, it is used by the United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command.
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The so-called Tropentarn, formerly known as Wüstentarn, is a camo pattern used by the unified armed forces of Germany, also known as the Bundeswehr.
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Specialized U.S. Navy units including the Navy SEALs, Seabees and Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen wear this pattern, which is known as the New Working Uniform (or N.W.U.) Type II.
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Canadian Disruptive Pattern — Terrain Woodland (CADPAT TW) is a digital pattern generated by computers. It's used by the Canadian Armed Forces and is intended to protect against detection by night vision devices.
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The Desert Battle Dress Uniform was used by The United States Armed Forces from the early 1980s to mid-1990s. It was mostly worn during the Persian Gulf War.
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Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform (DPCU), also known as "Auscam" or "jelly bean" camo is a five-color pattern used by the Australian Defense Force.
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The Desert Night Camouflage was used by the United States Armed Forces during the Gulf War. It’s a two-color grid camouflage pattern.
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The Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) is used by the British Armed Forces and was first issued in 1960. It's also been used by a number of other armies worldwide, mainly in former British colonies.
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The Erbsenmuster or "pea-dot" pattern was one of the commonly used German World War II camouflage patterns. It was first issued to the Waffen-SS in 1944.
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The Universal Camouflage Pattern (U.C.P.), also known as Digital Camouflage (digicam) or A.C.U.P.A.T. (Army Combat Uniform Pattern), is used by the United States Navy as well as the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force.
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The Tigerstripe is a group of camouflage patterns developed for close-range use in dense jungle. The South Vietnamese Armed Forces created it, and U.S. Special Forces adopted it during the Vietnam War.
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Tactical Assault Camouflage (TACAM) is a camouflage pattern exclusively used by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center.
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Flächentarnmuster, also called Kartoffelmuster (potato), or Blumentarn (flower), is an interesting pattern from the Flecktarn family of camouflage. It was worn by the East German National People’s Army.
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The Flecktarn series includes disruptive camouflage patterns with three, four, five, and six colors. Waffen-SS combat units wore the original German five-color pattern, which was designed to match Europe's woodland environment.
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Frog Skin is a battledress camouflage pattern. It was the United States military’s first attempt at disruptive coloration camouflage. It was first issued in 1942 to the Marine Raiders.
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The Afghanistan National Army (A.N.A.) issued the HyperStealth Spec4ce Afghan Forest pattern as their official camouflage pattern in 2010. This pattern was designed specifically to provide better protection at night.
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The Jigsaw camouflage pattern was originally mainly used by special forces and paratroops in Belgium and the Netherlands. The Belgian Land Component now wears it.
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The Lizard pattern ("TAP47 pattern" or "Leopard pattern" for the French) was first used by the French Ground Army on uniforms from 1947 to the late 1980s.
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Finnish Defense Forces use the M05 series of military camouflage patterns on uniforms and other equipment. The first M05 items were issued to troops in 2007.
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The M84 camouflage pattern used to be the official camouflage pattern of the Danish Defence. It was given the name "Model 1984," because it was presented in the year 1984.
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Marina Trans Jungle is a camouflage pattern selected by the Naval Infantry of Mexico in 2015 for their uniforms. It was previously known as the US4CES Transitional camouflage pattern.
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Leibermuster is a German military camouflage pattern. It was the last of a series of German World War II camouflage patterns, first used in 1945.
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The United States Marine Corps use MARPAT (short for Marine pattern). It’s a multi-scale camouflage pattern designed in 2001.
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MultiCam is a camouflage pattern first unveiled and designed in 2002 for the use of the U.S. Armed Forces in various seasons, environments, elevations, and light conditions.
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The Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP) is used by the British Armed Forces as a camouflage pattern for equipment. This pattern was designed to be effective in a wide variety of terrains.
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The Rhodesian Brushstroke camouflage pattern was worn by members of the Rhodesian Security Forces from 1965 until 1980, when a vertical lizard stripe pattern replaced it. The former country of Rhodesia is now the modern-day nation of Zimbabwe.
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Known as the “Soldier 2000”, this pattern is used by the South African National Defense Force (SANDF). It was designed for all terrains and seasons encountered across South Africa.
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The Hellenic camo pattern, also known as the "Hellenic Lizard," is among the rarest camouflage patterns. It was introduced in the mid-1970s and is used by the Hellenic Armed Forces.
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Germany developed the Splinter camouflage pattern (also called Splittermuster or simply Splittertarn) in the late 1920s. It was issued to all Wehrmacht units, especially to the German Airforce.
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The Brushstroke military camouflage pattern was developed for use by British paratroopers during World War II. It was the favorite design of the British Special Forces in the 1960s.
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The Duck Hunter is a favorite camouflage pattern among, you guessed it, duck hunters. However, it was originally known as U.S. M1942, a design used by the United States Marine Raiders.
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This camouflage was designed to evoke the image of falling rain. The German Airforce experimented with rain-inspired camouflage patterns in World War II, but this pattern became widely used during the Cold War.
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The Flecktarn camo pattern became a standard issue for German troops in the 1970s. The leopard pattern was worn by the West German Army originally, but it took Europe by storm the same way Woodland did in North America.
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The E.R.D.L. pattern is also known as the "Leaf" pattern. It’s a camo pattern developed by the United States Army its Engineer Research & Development Laboratories in 1948.
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