US Military Southern European Task Force Sleeve Insignia Seta

Commonly called a unit patch or shoulder patch, the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia-Military Operations in Hostile Conditions (SSI-MOHC) insignia features a tri-colored shield surmounted by a winged lion known as the Lion of St. Mark, a name based upon esoteric Biblical interpretations of events in both the Old and New Testaments.

The Lion of St. Mark is often used as a symbol of peace achieved through strength, a concept reinforced by the lion’s paw resting on a book titled PAX—Latin for “peace”—and holding a stylized dagger representing the willingness to use strength to reduce the use of violence as a solution to conflict. It is also a symbol of NATO affiliation, as well as a reference to the northeast Italian province of Venetia where SETAF was headquartered.

Used as the basis for the SETAF Combat Service ID Badge, the SETAF SSI-MOHC was originally for the Southern European Task Force on 6 December 1955. It has undergone several redesigns, with a  SETAF tab being removed from 1962 to 2008, with an AIRBORNE tab replacing it from February 2001 until September 2008. The most recent change came on 28 January 2021 when the patch was redesignated for U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa.