Identity Discs

It was not until the Boer War of 1899 - 1902 that British soldiers started wearing regulation methods of personal identity and these were in the form of strips of tape.

The strips were supposedly carrier in tunic pockets; however, it seemed that soldiers being soldiers, the strips could end up being placed anywhere and more often than not, a detailed search had to be conducted of the seriously wounded and dead to locate them.

In 1906, each soldier was issued with a tin disc and given specific orders that it was to be worn around the neck.

By the Great War, soldiers were issued with two discs, one was round and coloured red, while the other was octagonal and coloured green.

The discs were stamped with the soldier’s name, religion and unit. The aim of the two colours was that the red tag was removed and attached to a small bag, carried by burial parties, containing the soldier’s personal belongings.

The tag’s dual purpose was to name the owner of the contents and assist in establishing a record of those killed. The green tag remained with the body for temporary burial, making the corpse identifiable when exhumed for proper burial later. (Legend has it that the two colours were to assist soldiers in remembering which tag went where: red, the colour of blood, was taken away indicating the owner was dead; while green, the colour of grass, was kept with the body).

Today, the Australian Army’s Personal Identification Tags are referred to as Number 1 Tag (the octagonal shaped disc) and Number 2 Tag (the circular disc). They are embossed with the title AUST, the soldier’s regimental number, initials and name, religion and blood group.

The circular tag is removed from the body and the octagonal tag should, given time, be placed inside the dead soldier’s mouth, between the teeth and lips.