Patch Issue Designation

Issue Types

All Order of the Arrow and Council insignia are identified by a letter and a number. The primary letter or letters represents the basic issue type. These letters have developed historically within the hobby. Some of the letters refer to the shape of the patch. Other letters refer to the material the patch is made of, and yet other letters describe where the insignia is worn.

Abbreviation	Type Name	Details
A	Arrowhead	Patches generally smaller than 5 inches in height. Can come in many different arrowhead-shapes.
B	Bullion	Made of Bullion construction and of any shape or size including flapshaped patches.
C	Chenille	Chenille construction and of any shape or size, either in whole or part including flap-shaped patches.
c	Chapter	An issue of a chapter of the lodge.
e	Event Issue	Event issues are items issued by a lodge, or chapter, for an activity such as an ordeal, fellowship, banquet or reunion, but may also be items used to recognized a specific year’s dues payment, purchase of an annual events pass, or a participation award for a specific set of events.
F	Flap, not fully embroidered	Flap-shaped patches not fully embroidered. Mini-flaps would be classified under “X” or another classification mostly because they are not intended for wear on the pocket flap, but rather as simply collectible items. Oversized flaps would be classified as a “J” or possibly an “X” or another classification.
H	Historical	Historical issues are items issued by a successor lodge in honor of a predecessor lodge. They are usually similar in design to an item previously issued by the predecessor lodge but need not be. It may contain both the predecessor lodge’s name as well as the successor lodge’s name and possibly dates or other wording.
J	Jacket Patch	Large patches generally over 6 inches in at least one dimension
L	Leather	Patches that are made out of Leather and of any shape or size including flapshaped patches.
M	Metal	Any full-size emblem that is Metal (does not include hat pins or neckerchief slides or belt buckles) including flap-shaped patches.
N	Neckerchief	Neckerchiefs, whether printed, stamped, embroidered directly on the cloth or have a patch sewn on.
P	Pie or Triangular	Pie or triangular-shaped patches are designed for a neckerchief point. While the top of a pie can have various shapes, the sides must be straight and the bottom must come to a distinct point. The angle at the point need not be exactly 90 degrees but between 60 and 90 degrees.
Q	Reject	Patches that were ordered but rejected and returned to the manufacturer. These are not fake patches. After they rejected the patches, they are sometimes released into the hobby by the manufacturer. Thus they are not “official issues”.
R	Round	Round patches generally less than 5-6 inches in diameter. A tab for a buttonhole does not disqualify an item from this designation. A patch should be perfectly round to be classified as an “R” except for a tab for a buttonhole. Otherwise, it will be classified as an “X” or another shape
S	Solid, fully embroidered	A patch that is fully embroidered in a Flap or CSP shape.
T	Twill, not fully embroidered	A patch that is not fully embroidered showing the twill material. This is used for CSP shaped patches
U	Unknown	These items appear to be issued from the lodge or council, or tied to a lodge/council/camp but still need provenance or other documentation, as to whether or not they were lodge/chapter issues but for which there is insufficient evidence to determine a permanent code.
W	Woven	Woven patches, generally flap-shaped but not always
X	Other shape	Patches of any other shape that is not listed above
Y	Special	A broad category of patches and neckerchiefs that for one reason or another do not fit into the main listing. All known prototypes and samples are in this category. Also in this category are issues where only a “few” were made and they were either issued as “awards” to a few select individuals and/or they are not really readily available to lodge members. Typical of runs of less than 10 patches fit into this category. If by the nature of issue and quantity that were issued really makes it conservatively “uncollectable”, then the patch should warrant the “Y” listing. The actual number of patches made and/or issued and the restriction (or how it was issued) will be listed in the description field.
Z	Fake	Fraudulent, bogus, unauthorized, phony, spoof and other privately issued insignia.
ARM	Armband	Item made to wrap around and wear on your arm.
HBD	Headband	Item made to wrap around and wear on your head.
BKL	Belt buckle	Item made to be worn on a belt.