These obscure scraps of fabric with a flag and a few lines of text printed across the surface are among the most fascinating artifacts in the Museum’s collections. These squares of cloth are known as “blood chits.” The term “chit” is of Anglo-Indian origin and means “a note of a sum owed.”  An important piece of survival gear, a blood chit promises to reward civilians who assist downed aviators.

While the concept of blood chits may have been prompted by French balloonists experimenting with flight during the late eighteenth century, they were first developed for systematic military use by the British Royal Air Force toward the end of World War I. Typically, these small sheets of cloth are issued to air crew members who may travel through unfamiliar territory and could be separated from their crew or aircraft. Blood chits are usually constructed of silk or rayon acetate, a durable and water-resistant fabric. They bear messages in various languages that identify the person’s military affiliation and promise to reward anyone who assists the aviator in returning to friendly control. Militaries across the world have issued blood chits to their air crew members, and all have devised regulations specifying how or where they are to be kept, whether sewn onto the interior of flight jackets or simply stored in bags. Yet, they all carry with them a similar purpose: to provide a downed air crew member hope of survival in unknown territory.


The Museum has a few of these intriguing items in its collections, and one of them currently is on display. We are lucky to have blood chits ranging from World War II through the Vietnam era, allowing us to see the variations in production over time. Blood chits issued to American air crewmen throughout World War II were updated and edited at least four times to improve language translations or make production more efficient. The blood chits pictured above were recently donated by Sam Folsom, a retired Marine officer and Museum volunteer. Both of these were issued toward the end of World War II but have obvious differences. The blood chit on the left is one of the more common types, featuring text in seven languages: French, Thai, Lao, Annamese (Vietnamese), Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. The one on the right, however, was specifically printed for use in China and therefore includes no other languages.

We encourage veterans who were issued blood chits to reconsider these fascinating items for a moment and to share their significance with others. While air crew members have always been trained for survival should their aircraft be shot down, the reality of finding oneself in unfriendly territory could be terrifying nonetheless. Blood chits offered some glimpse of hope for assistance and survival.

For more information on blood chits, check out “Last Hope: The Blood Chit Story,” by R.E. Baldwin and Thomas Wm. McGarry.

Britta K. Arendt
Collections Manager