A Brief History Of: Camouflage

A soldier's uniform denotes everything from allegiance and branch to title and rank, and when it comes to camouflage, it can mean the difference between life and death. So when Congress recently passed a $106 billion war-spending bill, lawmakers included orders for some 70,000 redesigned uniforms for troops in Afghanistan; the pattern used in the deserts of Iraq was deemed unsuitable for Afghanistan's muddy, mountainous terrain.

Camouflage emerged during World War I, as total war blurred battle lines and made the regal dress of the Napoleonic era appear outdated and downright dangerous. France established the first corps dedicated to camouflage (from...