ERDL pattern
| ERDL pattern | |
|---|---|
The two variants of the ERDL pattern: The initial green-dominant version (top) and the succeeding brown-dominant version (bottom) | |
| Type | Military camouflage pattern |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1948–1980s (U.S. military service) |
| Used by | U.S. Marine Corps (former) U.S. Navy (former) U.S. Air Force (former) U.S. Army (former) See Users (for other non-U.S. users) |
| Wars | Vietnam War Laotian Civil War Cambodian Civil War Invasion of Grenada Operation Golden Pheasant Invasion of Panama Syrian Civil War |
| Production history | |
| Designer | United States Army Engineer Research and Development Laboratory under Chief of Camouflage Adolph H. Humphreys and chief designer John Hopkins |
| Designed | 1948 |
| Produced | 1948–1979 |
![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Green-dominant_"lowland"_ERDL_camouflage_pattern_swatch.svg){kind=link}
![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brown-dominant_"highland"_ERDL_camouflage_pattern_swatch.svg){kind=link}
The ERDL pattern, also known as the Leaf pattern, is a camouflage pattern developed by the United States Army at its Engineer Research & Development Laboratories (ERDL) in 1948. It was not used until the Vietnam War, when it was issued to elite reconnaissance and special operations units beginning early 1967.
The pattern consists of four colors printed in an interlocking pattern. It was initially produced in a green-dominant colorway, consisting of large organic shapes in olive green and brown, black 'branches' and light green 'leaf highlights'. Shortly after it was first fielded in Vietnam a brown-dominant scheme with the light green replaced by light tan was introduced.