Although it cannot be stated with 100 percent certainty, the design of the 509th Infantry Regiment Shoulder Sleeve Insignia-Military Operations in Hostile Conditions insignia, featuring the image of a paratrooper on a black background, might very well have been used for the first beret flash in the United States military. According to some military historians, the flash/patch was created and worn by members of the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment who trained with the British 1st Airborne Division during World War II.
These paratroopers were named honorary members of the Division and were entitled to wear the maroon beret worn by their British counterparts, leading some of them to make their own hand-embroidered version of the unit’s pocket patch—a parachutist standing at the exit door of an aircraft with “GERONIMO” underneath the image—and place it on the beret. The image is so distinct that the figure on the patch has been given a name: “Gingerbread Man.”
Regardless of the exact details of its development, this design has now been incorporated into the 509th Infantry Regiment’s coat of arms and Distinctive Unit Insignia, also called a unit crest.
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