United States Air Force uniform regulations authorize the wear of the full-color United States flag patch only on the left sleeve of the Flight Duty Uniform / Desert Flight Duty Uniform. United States flag patches are to be approximately 2” x 3” with the flag displayed as straight (no furls or waves) and positioned no lower than one inch from the shoulder seam.
With its adoption of the Operational Camouflage Pattern uniform, the United States Air Force authorized the wear of a reverse U.S. flag patch manufactured in a spice-brown color on the right sleeve, a decision that seems to contradict current U.S. Air Force regulations which state that flag patches must be red, white, and blue because those are the colors specified in U.S. code. This issue, however, will likely be addressed in an update to AFI 36-2903 released before the mandatory wear date for the spice-brown flag patch (1 June 2020).