History of Dog Tags

In the days before the existence of dog tags, many American Civil War soldiers would pin a note to their military uniforms with their names and addresses for identification purposes. Those that didn't use notes stenciled the information on their backpacks or scribed it on the rear side of their lead military belt buckles. Thus we see that dogs tags came into existence because of a military need.

Manufacturers of the time recognized the potential market for identification pins and took out advertising for them. Early dog tags / pins were shaped in forms that could be recognized for each specific branch of the military: Army, Navy, Marines. Each tag was engraved with the soldier's name and military unit number. Later the tags were of machine stamped brass and lead. Made from thin sheets of either metal, they typically had a hole at one end used to attach the dog tag, usually to a chain. They came in pairs.  In the event of a death, one tag remained with the body while a second was kept for official records. In addition to the soldier's identification information some dog tags had a list of battles the soldier had participated in. On the reverse side, sometimes a phrase like "War for the Union" or "Liberty, Union and Equality" and a symbol such as an eagle or a shield could be found.

In 1862, New Yorker John Kennedy, sent a letter to the U.S. Army offering to supply identification discs for officers and men in the Union Army. Kennedy's letter included a drawing showing a simple disc imprinted with the soldier's identification information. Today the US National Archives stores that letter along with a simple reply refusing the offer.