STS-51C
The STS-51C crew wore the standard AB Emblem embroidered mission emblems on their flight suits and on their in-flight clothing during the mission. However, for the crew portrait photo (which was taken some months prior to the flight) they wore embroidered patches with significantly wider tabs at the bottom, as shown on the right.
These "wide-tab" patches may have been pre-production samples from AB Emblem and would likely be very difficult to find today.
Embroidered Mission Patches
A-B Emblem patch
The AB Emblem patch was the version used by the crew during the mission. The patch has a separate name tab sewn on at the bottom.
Lion Brothers patch
The Lion Brothers STS-51C mission patch only exists with a vacuum-sealed plastic backing. It looks similar to the Cape Kennedy Medals design but the colors are different, the Lion Brothers version has the gold border extended out around the eagle's wing tips and the Shuttle in the center of the Lion Brothers version has a distinctive band of thick grey thread running along its top edge.
Swissartex patch
The vintage version of the Swissartex STS-51C mission patch exists both with a waxy plastic backing and with a vacuum sealed
clear plastic coating on the reverse. The fronts of the two versions are virtually identical.
The patch has the wing tips of the eagle enclosed in the outer border.
Cape Kennedy Medals patch
The Cape Kennedy Medals version of the patch is a one piece patch with a cut edge.
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