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You may be intimately familiar with every detail of your dog tag. You may know precisely how much it weighs, all the information printed on it, and in what order it’s published, whether or not one side is slightly rougher due to age.
But it’s possible that you don’t know much about the history of dog tags. There’s no shame in that; dog tags have an exciting history. While far too in-depth to list the entire history here, this article will give you some basic information about where the idea for dog tags came from, how they got the name and some changes in the history of dog tags.
The origin of dog tags
The identification tag first came into vogue amid the Civil War, when soldiers feared that they would not be identifiable if they died on the battlefield. Soldiers would create their tags, usually out of wood or old coins. Some soldiers could afford to have their information engraved on metal disks, but this was rare.
While the first identification tags were unofficial, the US government soon understood the value of ID; almost half of the Union soldiers who died in combat were unidentified. The numbers are particularly stark; The Vicksburg National Cemetery serves as the resting place for over 17,000 soldiers. Around 75 percent of those soldiers are unknown Union soldiers.
The armed forces didn’t begin using identification tags in an official capacity until December of 1906. The Army put out an order for aluminum disks that contained each soldier’s basic information to be worn by its members. The rest of the military followed suit, and by 1917, all combat troops were wearing dog tags.
The origin of the name “dog tags”
While dog tags’ origin as a concept is fairly straightforward, the name itself has multiple possible origin stories.
The most prominent origin story holds that William Randolph Hearst, the man who essentially invented yellow journalism, coined the term when describing the possibility of regular citizens receiving nameplates to serve as personal identification. Allegedly, Hearst referred to them as “dog tags.”
A more likely, simpler origin is that the term came from World War II draftees who felt they were treated worse than dogs; in protest, they began calling their identification tags “dog tags.”
How dog tags have changed over the years
As stated at the beginning of this article, the first dog tags were basic, created by soldiers out of what sturdy material they could get.
Dog tags were originally made out of aluminum, with the navy instead opting for a nickel alloy for theirs. Today, dog tags are a nickel-copper alloy.
Dog tags have also had some information removed from future dog tags. Things such as emergency contacts, tetanus vaccine information, and fingerprints were originally featured on some dog tags, though they have since been removed.
If you have a dog tag from before the 1970s, you may have noticed a notch on one side. This notch has no special significance but was there because of the machine used to create the tags. Specifically, that notch helped line the tag up with the machine that embossed the information.
While dog tags have changed significantly since they were first instituted back in the early 1900s, their practicality has been doubtless helpful in identifying those who have been lost in combat. Further, the number of links on each chain serves another practical purpose. The longer chain containing 365 beads and the shorter containing 24; this can be used as a makeshift calendar if someone is held as a prisoner of war.
A grim reminder of the cost of war, dog tags have served a pivotal role in ensuring that nobody is left behind or forgotten in war. And, while biological identifiers can be used now to determine who a deceased soldier was, dog tags will likely remain an essential part of military gear.
