Velcro Patches

A panel that can be changed in seconds

Velcro patches attach with hook and loop backing instead of thread, so a flag, a rank marking or a unit badge can be swapped without a needle. The selection covers national flags, regimental designs including parachute and special forces badges, rank markings, blood group tabs and morale patches, mostly embroidered and mostly cut to the small rectangular sizes that fit a chest or sleeve panel.

Which side is hook and which is loop?

Hook and loop is a two part fastening. The hook side is the rough half covered in small stiff barbs, and it normally sits on the back of a patch. The loop side is the soft fuzzy half, and it is what jackets, plate carriers, caps and rucksacks carry as a sewn on panel. Reading the description matters, because a patch supplied with loop backing will not hold on a garment that also has loop, and the two soft faces simply slide across each other.

Where do patches normally go?

Chest panels above a pocket, upper sleeves near the shoulder, the front of a cap, and the lid or front pocket of a rucksack. One convention is worth knowing about flags: worn on the right arm, a flag is often shown reversed so that the union or star field leads forward, as though the wearer were carrying it into the wind. That is a design tradition rather than a rule for civilian wear, but it explains why a mirrored flag is not a printing fault.

Which details decide whether a patch works?

• Measurements: the panel on a garment is a fixed size, so measure it and compare rather than judging scale from a photograph.
• Backing: confirm the patch carries hook backing if the garment has a loop panel, and look for stitching where the backing meets the badge.
• Construction: embroidery gives depth and holds colour, while printed and moulded rubber patches carry fine detail that thread cannot reproduce.
• Edge finish: a merrowed or heat sealed border is what stops a patch fraying at the corners after repeated removal.

How is one attached to a garment with no panel?

Sew a strip of loop tape onto the garment and the patch then behaves as it would on any tactical jacket. On something that should not be pierced, a self adhesive loop square works, though adhesive gives up faster in the wet and in the cold than stitching does. Some badges arrive with both a hook back and a stitchable edge, which leaves the option of sewing them down permanently once a position has been settled.

How is kit with patches on it washed?

Take them off first. Hook tape grabs everything it meets inside a drum, and it will pill a fleece badly in a single cycle. The wrist closures on tactical gloves behave the same way and are worth fastening shut before a wash. Where a patch has to stay put, close it under a flap or cover the exposed hook with a spare loop panel. Loop panels themselves clog with lint and stray fibres over time, and picking them clean with tweezers or a stiff brush restores most of the grip.