FBI ARMBAND

Click on the pic for a larger view.

 

This is an old armband used by FBI agents in times past.

 

I am unsure, but I believe this armband is the very first FBI 'patch' or the closest thing resembling a patch, ever used by the FBI.

 

I have heard from agents that they think this item was available in the 1960s.

 

Of course, this would have been during the Hoover era. Note that this armband says exactly what it says on agent badges - nothing more, and nothing less. Like on the issued FBI badges, the 2 letters U and S are very large. Perhaps for these reasons, Hoover would have approved its design - there is nothing much different about it than an agent badge. No design to fret over.

 

I am aware that in one or more field offices, dozens of these armbands were stored in the office gun vault - a room accessible only by firearms instructors who have the combination to the lock on the door.

 

The pictured armband has 2 velcro strips on the ends with which to secure it when it's wrapped around an arm. Some of these did not have the velcro strips and the agents had to fasten them with safety pins.

 

I have other FBI items pictured in my FBI album - to the right of this text.

Done