The Origins of the Heavy Metal Battle Jacket

The front of the battle jacket I recently completed.

At a metal or rock show battle vests and battle jackets are a pretty common site.  They're conversation starters, show pieces, pop art, ways for people to recognize one another, and so on. A battle jacket is a personal statement, depicting bands that are meaningful to the wearer.  Often times, the patches and pins sported on a battle vest or battle jacket will have been collected one at a time, by attending a show of each band represented, and sewn on the vest over the course of months or years.

The back of my recently completed battle jacket.

It seems an odd thing, metal heads who listen to the likes of Cannibal Corpse or Amon Amarth, Sleep or High On Fire, sitting around at a festival with a beer,  needle and thread during their down time, sewing their latest additions to their collection on their battle vest, but certain enough, this is not an uncommon site.

But that is just one way to assemble a collection of patches to make a battle jacket or battle vest.  With the internet available these days there are a number of online outlets, eBay, Facebook patch and Battle vest groups, etc. where a metal head can find a wide variety of patches and pins, including vintage '80s patches and band buttons.

But where did these heavy metal staples get their beginnings?  What are the origins of the common battle jacket?

The battle jacket actually got its start during, as one might expect due to the term "Battle," conflict between nations, specifically, during the years of World War II.

Air Force corpsmen would decorate their leather flight jackets with the insignia of their squadron.  They would include the number kills they were responsible for so they could have bragging rights, sexy women in various stages of undress were commonly depicted as well.  As the war went one, they added to their jackets items including pop culture icons such as Bug Bunny, Donald Duck and others.

Upon the war ending, these fly boys found themselves at home with nothing to do and many of them took up riding motorcycles for adventure.  In the meantime, they had discovered that the paint had flaked off their leather jackets and that it was much easier to sew patches onto denim, and that denim also would protect them while riding their motorcycles, so many riders switched over to denim for their club battle jackets.

As the 60's arrived there were two prevailing groups that lent themselves to the development of the battle jacket.  Both groups, the 60's gangsters and Woodstock era hippies, were dedicated to free self expression, rebelliousness, defying the norms and generally being a nuisance to the establishment.

These two outfits sort of merged with the rolling over of the calendar into the 70's.  Rock (now days referred to as classic rock) punk and heavy metal, arrived on the scene as if out of nowhere.  Band fashion was copied by the fans.

The punks were the first to incorporate customized jackets into their look, adding metal spikes to their jackets, something the heavy metal crowd would later adopt.

Perhaps the two men most responsible for influencing the leather and denim look among metal heads are Judas Priest's Rob Halford, and Motörhead's Lemmy Kilminster.  Halford is an aficionado of the leather and spikes look, while Lemmy was always seen wearing denim.

A battle jacket is a deeply personal thing and making one can be a rewarding experience.  Is it time for you to start collecting patches and look for the right piece of denim or leather, to start your jacket or vest.  I was 45 before I began my first one, pictured at the top of the page, sleeves at the bottom.

Editor's Note: Most of these photos were taken as the result of random searches of the net.  If you see one and know the owner or are the owner please feel free to message me for photo credit or to have it removed.