The patches indicate the Army, Specialty or Corps of the military personnel and they are different for shape, colour and traditional symbols. They are fixed on the jacket (or in some cases on the shirt) of the Regular Uniform or the Service Uniform. In the past they were in plastic for the troop and in fabric or embroidered for the Supervisors; now they are in glazed metal for all the military personnel.

The following pages show the patches that are now used by the Army.

The patches no longer in use are reported here.

Depending on the form, the patches can be called flames with one tip (or collar badge), flames with two tips or flames with three tips.

The rectangular patches are called "braidings" and they are used by the Grenadiers and the Officers in service of the General Staff.

There are also rectangular patches with the traditional colours of the Infantry regiments and the traditional insignias (paratroopers, Air Cavalry, Engineer Corps).

The Alpine troops, the Paratroopers and the Armoured troops have got the same flames of the regiments of the Grenadiers Brigade. In the lower part of their patches there is the symbol of the Italian military personnel: the silver star with five tips.