The Diving Badge is a military decoration of the United States armed forces which is awarded to those service members who have obtained qualifications as military divers. The Diving Badge was originally a patch which was worn by Navy divers on the upper left sleeve of a service uniform. The Diving Patch was first created during the Second World War and became a breast badge in the late 1960s.

The current Diving Badge is issued by both the U.S. Army and United States Navy, and is provided in several different degrees of issuance. Members of both the Coast Guard and Marine Corps are eligible to receive the Navy version of the Diving Badge. The United States Air Force does not issue any sort of a Diving Badge, however personnel are permitted to wear the Diving Badge of other services if proper training and qualification was obtained.

Navy

The Navy Diving Badge is issued in several degrees to member of the Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and United States Marines. The first degree of the diving badges is the Scuba Badge, issued for qualification as a Navy Scuba Diver. The Scuba Badge was previously issued in two degrees, one being for officer divers and the other for enlisted personnel. The Scuba Officer Badge was phased out in the 1990s and the Scuba Badge is now issued as a silver pin for all qualified Navy scuba divers.

The remaining Navy Diving Badges are awarded for deep sea dive qualifications and are issued in the degrees of Second Class, First Class, and Master Diver. An Officer Diving Badge also exists for those Master Divers who are commissioned officers, and the Diving Medical Officer Badge is presented to medical personnel who have qualified as both divers and medical response personnel to diving medical emergencies.

Army

The Army Diving Badge is very similar to the Navy design, however there is not an officer version of the Diving Badge nor is there a Medical Diving Badge. The Army also maintains the Salvage Diver Badge which is a standard Diver Badge annotated with an engraved “S”.