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Dog tags, now called “identification tags,” are issued to active duty soldiers and contain personal information. They were not always standard military equipment, and during the Civil War, soldiers used cloth strips or commemorative pins to identify themselves. The notch on vintage dog tags was not for teeth or gas, but to align the tag in an embossing machine. Modern tags can store medical records on an electronic chip. Soldiers wear two sets of tags, one stays with them and the other is sent for processing.
In military circles, dog tags are the regulatory identification tags issued to all active duty soldiers, although they are now formally called “identification tags” to avoid derogatory implications. Military personnel are required to wear two sets of identification tags around their necks while in uniform, one on a long chain around their neck and the other on a shorter chain attached to the first. The longer set stays with a wounded or deceased soldier, while the shorter set is sent to the hospital or graves registration unit for processing.
The unofficial name of these ID tags comes from their resemblance to the actual tags used to identify dogs. Modern day tags are usually made from aluminum foil fed through a metal embossing machine. Vintage ones from the 1940s through early 1970s had a notch on one side, but modern dog tags are completely smooth. Advances in identification technology now give military officers the ability to store all of a soldier’s medical records on a small electronic chip contained in tags.
However, dog tags were not always standard military equipment. During the Civil War, identifying individual soldiers lost on a large battlefield was nearly impossible. Some soldiers sewed strips of personally identifiable cloth onto the back of their uniforms, or purchased special commemorative pins stamped with their name and regiment. At the time, the US Army did not have an established policy on identifying soldiers, although there were several suppliers of commemorative pins offering their services to the government.
It wasn’t until 1906 that military regulations were changed to require a standard set of identification tags, and the system of wearing two separate sets of tags only became necessary in 1916. Dog tags issued by the Quartermaster’s Office included the full name of the soldier (in reverse order), social security number, military service number, blood type and religious affiliation. Older tags may also include information about a soldier’s tetanus shot history.
The notch contained in dog plate sets has long been a source of controversy. Some believed it was created to house the front teeth of deceased soldiers as the tags were placed in their mouths. The notch would have made it easier for other soldiers to forcefully maneuver them into the correct position. Others have suggested that the notch held the mouth of a deceased soldier open to prevent a dangerous buildup of internal gases. It was also said to indicate the location of the first nail in the coffin of a deceased soldier.
Ironically, one of the major theories debunking these battlefield myths is, in fact, a myth itself. Presumably, the notch in the standard die was created to correctly align the metal blank in the embossing machine, and it promptly disappeared as more modern embossing equipment became available. In reality, the notch had nothing to do with creating a tag. Whenever military medics needed to transfer a soldier’s dog tag information to official records, they used a machine called the Addressograph Model 70. This machine had a slot for proper positioning of the tags as the raised side was inked and pressed on the card. The notch ensured that the ID was oriented correctly, as it would not fit the car in any other position.
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