Hi y'all,
When did we start using standardized dog tags and what were we using to identify the dead before then?
Bonus point for answers on the French army!
Do you know what it looked like? Was it because of the 1870's war?In the French Army, the first recorded use of unofficial tags was the 1870 war. The War Ministry adopted the principle of dogtagging in 1879, but started to implement the system in 1881 only
Didn't the ancient Spartans have a similar system? I seem to recall watching a documentary where it was mentioned that Spartan warriors had a stick tied to a wirst or ankle which would be collected after a battle if the person wearing it died, in order to identify them.
Sources in french only.Do you know what it looked like? Was it because of the 1870's war?
I'm writing fiction in that era so any source would be super appreciated![]()
Happy with French! Thanks so much for all your repliesSources in french only.
Tags were oval shaped, 47x32mm, with
- Name, first names
- Date and location of birth
- Residency location
- Unit (or mobilization for reservists)
- Serial number
I imagine how many people died is also a big factor. Battles with 5000 people are not the same as the 100.000 armies of the Napoleonic eraAs long as people have been dying, I'm sure they've wanted to be identified. Of course in ancient times the odds of not being able to identify a corpse seem lower - no shot or cannonballs to tear up faces, let alone mass artillery. And even then, a lot of soldiers in ancient greece at any rate had custom shields and equipment. Plus given the more personal nature of ancient battle I'd wager in most cases short of a total rout, at least somebody will probably see if you died and where.