kamouflage.net camouflage data

Uncover your potential', indeed! Once you stop ogling the girl, though, you might notice that this Australian Special Air Service (SAS) recruiting poster shows Australian Disruptive Pattern Camouflage to very good effect. [Image courtesy Brad Turner collection.]

1963 splinter pattern camouflage
People's Republic of Bulgaria

After World War II, several nations adopted splinter pattern camouflages similar to those used by the German Wehrmacht. Also known as '1st pattern' camouflage, the 1953 Bulgarian splinter pattern is a case in point. The size of the splinter elements suggests that it was closely based upon the wartime German Luftwaffe-Splittermuster 41 ('1941 Luftwaffe splinter pattern'), although there were also differences, the most significant of which was the wavy appearance of the dashes. Less obvious, but no less distinctive, was the printing of the green splinter elements and dashes with the same roller, which reduced the Bulgarian splinter pattern to a three-colour camouflage.

In 1963, a second evolution of the Bulgarian splinter pattern was introduced into service. Like its predecessor, it was a three-colour camouflage, which comprised leaf green and red brown elements on a tan background. However, the quality of the printing is of a much higher standard than that of the 1953 splinter camouflage.

The pattern is most often seen on a winter jacket, which was manufactured in limited numbers and issued only to officers of the Bulgarian airborne forces. Whether or not matching trousers were manufactured and/or issued remains uncertain.

kamouflage.net is grateful to the staff of ShopBulgaria.com, for their invaluable contributions to this article.

camouflage data