How to identify a soldier when he can not talk? You can not ask him his name, blood group or anything really. This problem is as old as the wars themselves. In the mid 19th century this problem was solved. During Taiping Rebellion, the Chinese soldiers were provided with identification tags and since then, the tags are used by armies all over the world. What are they ?
Identification for better help
Identification tags or DogTags are small sheets of metal with embossed basic informations about soldier. These tags are made of highly-durable stainless steel, which must be resistant to fire as well as another harsh conditions and handling. Each soldier is allotted with two tags and they are usually worn on a neck. Why two? On of them remains on the soldiers body, whether dead or alive, for identification and the other as a record for the office. As already mentioned, there are different informations embossed on the tags. They vary with the Army. For example, the US Army tags contain first name, surname, blood group and a religion. In addition to these informations you can find another number on each dog tag. This number is a soldier´s military ID number and is unique for every soldier. According to this number, the authorities are able to immediately identify the soldier. So is it issue of the Army only ?
Fashion above anything
Over the time, more and more soldiers started to wear these tags even in civilian life and civilians wanted to wear them too. Nowdays, good old DogTags became a fashion trend. We can see them as a part of celebrity outfits, but also hanging on the necks of another people. We can not say whether it is a lack of respect or just ignoring the fact that these signs are worn by people who will protect us. Either way, these tags really became popular and anyone can get them. A little different group are people who are doing military related sports, such as AirSoft or Paintball. Here we can find dog tags very often.
Which one ?
If we want our dog tags to be made, we have to decide it which one we want. They are produced in more variations. The standard, as we can see with military tags, is a stainless steel plate. We can also find on our website tags with black finish, which eliminate light reflections. Another aspect that can be eliminated is the sound. The tags can clinking when moving and therefore they are provided with silencers made from rubber. The selection depends on our personal taste.