What is Camouflage

Camouflage has been around since the beginning of time – in nature. Animals have been using camo for millennia to disguise themselves, fool predators, or fool prey. Man, however, hasn’t adopted camouflage until recently, beginning in the first portion of the twentieth century. Military camouflage was for centuries viewed with an air of dishonor, almost as if it was deceitful or un-warrior like to hide oneself from the enemy.

The Soldiers of Old – Camo Free

From the Romans all the way up to the revolutionary and civil war, soldiers historically fought in bright clothing. From the crimson plumes sticking out of a Roman centurion’s helmet to his gleaming breastplate, soldiers of old stuck out like a sore thumb. Almost two thousand years later, British troops wore bright red uniforms with white breeches and had no regard for camouflage, and neither did their American enemies.

Times Change and Camo is Born

Camouflage started slowly, emerging in World War I with muted, monotone uniforms of a single color…darker grays, earth tones, olive greens, and khaki. As the effectiveness of this became better observed over the years, soldiers would add bits of foliage to their helmets to break up their outlines, some of the first types of military camo.

World War II Gives Us True Camo

Camouflage took a leap in WWII with German, American, Italian, and British Special Forces troops receiving true printed camouflage patterns on their uniforms. The ordinary troops still went monotone, but the elite had camo for the first time. It’s effectiveness was indisputable, and by the early 1980s, every modern army fielded some form of camouflage for their troops – and not just special forces troops – all troops.

Military Camouflage

The United States has adopted camouflage very rapidly and has gone through several types in the past thirty years. The first camouflage pattern adopted for line troops was the Battle Dress Uniform in Woodland Camouflage, augmented with Desert Camouflage. After that the Army Combat Uniform was adopted with Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP), and now Multicam is used in Afghanistan. Marines and the Navy have similar camo, called MARPAT (Marine Pattern). Most armies of the world use digital camouflage today.

Camouflage for Hunters

Camo isn’t just for soldiers anymore. Hunters have an incredibly diverse selection of camo patterns ranging from Realtree camo to Mossy Oak and everything in between. We also sell a vast collection of camo stencils for use in painting anything and everything – we sell camo stencils for all army camo, digital camo, snow camo, hunting camo – you name it, we have it!

Top Quality Camouflage Stencils, that you can paint with yourself quickly and easily, check out some awesome Camouflage painting Stencils below: