Uniformed services diver insignia (United States)

The various diver insignia (also known as "diver badges", "dive badges," and colloquially known as "dive bubbles") of the uniformed services of the United States are badges awarded to service personnel once they have graduated an appropriate diving course. The badges' origins lie in the cloth patch decoration worn by United States Navy divers on the upper-portion of the enlisted service uniform's left sleeve during the first part of World War II, when the rating insignia was worn on the right sleeve. When enlisted rating insignia were shifted to the left sleeve in late World War II, the patch shifted to the upper right sleeve. The Navy transitioned to a metal breast insignia (with cloth breast insignia for utility and battle uniforms) in the late 1960s, with the other services following suit over the following decades.

Currently, the United States Army, United States Navy, and United States Air Force all issue diver insignia and badges denoting varying degrees of qualification and also generally permit the wearing of each others' diver insignia. The United States Marine Corps issues its own diver insignia in a single degree and Marine Corps personnel are eligible to earn and wear most of the Navy's dive badges (Navy personnel are also eligible to earn and wear the Marine Corps' unique dive insignia). The United States Coast Guard also issues a single unique diver insignia (in a single degree) but its personnel are also eligible to earn and wear most Navy dive badges. The United States Space Force does not issue a unique diver insignia and most of its personnel are not afforded the opportunity to earn such badges from sister services (except via prior service), although the insignia are authorized for wear on Space Force uniforms. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps is the only non-armed service of the uniformed services to issue a unique diver insignia; the Commissioned Officer Corps also authorizes all earned armed services badges (to include all diver insignia) to be worn on NOAA uniforms. The remaining uniformed service, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHSCC), does not issue a unique diver insignia; however, USPHSCC personnel are authorized to wear most badges earned from another uniformed service on appropriate USPHSCC uniforms, to include diver badges.