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Custom Patch

An arrow-shaped customized green patch with the tip pointing upward. It depicts an “M” at the top, a spider with a maple leaf on its abdomen in the middle and two cycles on the bottom.

Private Collection

PVC patch, velcro, 8.9 x 3.8 cm, 2013

Official and unofficial patches are often worn and traded by members of the Canadian military. This patch was designed by a soldier who served in the Canadian Army in Afghanistan. It started out as an unofficial patch, then went through an approval, process and is now the official patch of the unit. In the original drawing, the spider was a brown recluse spider that lives in the Canadian army’s training area near Wainwright, Alberta. The spider’s venom is “necrotic” and causes tissue to die. It is a small spider that does a lot of damage—just like the company on deployment. The spider has a violin shaped mark on its head and this was switched out for a maple leaf to represent Canada.