The tags are usually inscribed with service number, blood group, surname, initials and religion. The British Army now use surgical stainless steel tags, one is on a 24" chain and the other is on a 4.5" chain. Both disks were worn and in the event of you being killed the red tag was removed and the green one was left with the soldiers body, if there was enough time it was placed in the mouth. Two disks were used one a red/brown and the other green and made out of vulcanised asbestos fibre. So on the 21st August 1914 a new disk was designed which would then be used for the next 50 years. In August 1914 the army began to expand and it became apparent that keeping up with production and the expense of aluminium would be too much. The soldiers number, name, regiment and religious denomination. The first tag was an aluminium disk hung off a 42" piece of cord and worn around the soldiers neck. The British Army chose to not have tags until 1907 and stayed with identification cards until this point. Many countries then chose to follow suit. They wore them in the 1870 Franco Prussian War. In 1870 the first army to issue troops with dog tags were the Prussians at that time they were called 'recognition tags'. The need of identification tags were needed in the 1860's around the American Civil War where soldiers were writing their name and address on slips and pinning them to clothing in case they fell in battle. On the disc was the soldiers name and the legion that they belonged to. Originally Romans wore small id tags, on joining they were issued an identity tag, made of lead which was worn around the neck on a piece of string.
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