was providing military support in their fight against communism. To represent the environment, a green background was chosen. For the nexus with the Republic of Vietnam, the red and yellow colours of their national flag were chosen, and for America, the badge was shaped as a shield similar to that of the US MACV badge. Inspiration for the symbol representing the South Vietnamese people was provided by a crossbow – a weapon which was as iconic in Vietnam as the boomerang was in Australia – which an AATTV member, who had been serving with the Nung tribal people, had left at the unit's headquarters for safe keeping. These symbols of the indigenous peoples of the two nations were chosen to represent all of the peoples of each nation. The AATTV initials were imprinted on the boomerang at the head of the badge and the motto Persevere on a scroll at the base of the badge. Both texts were in red whilst the boomerang and scroll were in yellow. On the shield version, the AATTV unit name on the boomerang was in block higher case text and the motto on the scroll was in heraldic higher case. On unit correspondence, all text was displayed in block higher case. As the boomerang is a ready-to-use weapon, the crossbow was presented loaded so that both symbolised the AATTV and the ARVN as being ready for action. Each item on the badge, each colour, each item of text and the shape of the shield, in combination, are symbolic of Australia's military traditions, the individual Australian soldier's reputation in combat and, in particular, the AATTV's record of valour. Ironically the crossbow was not a symbol of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, but a weapon used by the Montagnard and banned by President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1955. In 1967 Commander Australian Forces Vietnam authorised the patch to be worn on the right shoulder of field uniform as a "theatre-specific" item. An initial batch was subsequently produced using unit funds in Japan, and then later locally in Vietnam. In October 1969 the badge was officially confirmed as a catalogue item, and in September 1969 it was subsequently approved as an item of dress which could be issue at public expense. In 1970 a metallic version of the badge became available, and was worn on a unique "rifle green" beret which was adopted in an