Lizard patterns have two overlapping prints, generally green and brown, printed with gaps so that a third dyed color, such as a lighter green or khaki, makes up a large part of the pattern. In this, it is printed like earlier British patterns used on that country's Paratroopers
Denison smocks. Lizard patterns have narrower printed areas than the British patterns, and the original form had a strong horizontal orientation,
disrupting the vertical form of the soldier's body.
Bulgarian Army used the surplus Israel Defence Force uniforms as official uniform in United Nation's mission in Cambodia (UNTAC), 1992–1993. After the
Algerian War the "Troupes Aéroportées" (Airborne Troops) "Tenue Leopard"/"tenues de saut" was officially withdrawn from French service in January 1963 as it was felt to be a reminder of the
Paratroops mutiny. It was initially replaced with the
khaki M1947 "trellis/tenue de campagne" and later the
vert armée "treillis Mle. 1964" or "Satin 300" in the late 1960s which evolved into the F1 and F2 uniform sets, the forest camouflage
CCE was introduced in 1991. However, the "tenue camouflee toutes armes" variant was worn by
French Forces in Germany throughout the 1960s and by units going overseas into the early 1980s until finally replaced by Central-Europe Camouflage.
Vertical lizard patterns Vertical lizard patterns in different colorways were apparently developed in Portugal from the original French horizontal patterns. The lizard pattern had been in use in Portugal since 1956 with the Air Force's
Paratroopers, being extended to the Army's
Special Rifles units in 1960. With the Portuguese Military engaged in the
Overseas Wars mainly fought in the African jungles, the camouflaged uniform was issued throughout the whole Army and some units of the Navy and Air Force. In 1963, a vertical lizard pattern was developed, this replacing the French horizontal pattern. Paradoxically, the Portuguese vertical lizard pattern become popular amongst some of the guerrillas that opposed Portugal in the Overseas Wars and was later adopted by the armed forces of some of the former Portuguese African colonies after their independence. The Portuguese vertical lizard pattern was adopted by Brazil, which developed a range of colorways for each of its armed services. Egypt, Greece, India, Lebanese Palestinians and Syria have all used variants of the vertical lizard pattern.
Other descendants The
Vietnam War tiger stripe camouflage is descended from Lizard. It began as a French experimental pattern during the Indochina war. It was based on the TAP47 lizard pattern, and was adopted by the
South Vietnamese Marines. Tiger stripe differs from lizard in having its printed areas interlocked rather than overlapped; it also used smaller areas of dyed background color. ==Users==