Patch collecting or badge collecting (akascutelliphily, from Latin scutellus meaning little shield, and Greek phileein meaning to love) is the hobby of collecting patches or badges.
Types of patches collected may include commercial products, military insignia, and law enforcement insignia.
Patch collecting has a history dating back to at least World War II.
↑"Policeman displays shoulder patches". Sierra Madre News. Vol.84, no.41. 27 July 1989. p.7. Skinner has accumulated all 356 current-style California police department patches in mint condition with the exception of six agencies.
↑"Letters to the Editor: Trading Corner". Army Times. Vol.3, no.35. 10 April 1943. Shoulder patch collecting is comparatively new and about the only source we collectors have for increasing our collections is in trading patches.
↑"The Talk of the Town: Collector". The New Yorker. 2 June 1945. Richard is only sixteen but has been in the patch-collecting game since before Pearl Harbor.
↑Campbell, Bert L.; Reynolds, Ron (1983). Marine Badges and Insignia of the World. Poole: Blandford Press. p.166. ISBN0713711388.