# Was this stock photo (woman in military dress uniform) involved in a brouhaha? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948 "2014-10-20T21:22:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/1 "2014-10-20T21:22:20Z")
A few months ago, I made a poster for a client. It included many stock photos (purchased from Getty Images’ [istockphoto.com](http://istockphoto.com) service), including [this one](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4111279/woman-in-uniform.jpg), of a woman in a military dress uniform. Now, I thought I had done my due diligence at the time to make sure that it was a US military uniform (client runs a US-based company, caters to US-based clientele), but I don’t have any notes/bookmarks/etc. on the subject. My client is in a meeting today. Meeting goes well, but after it’s done, his client takes him aside and says, “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but that photo [above] is kind of infamous.” My client didn’t know anything about it, and this fellow goes on to tell him that it was apparently used in a US Military recruitment ad, that created a huge controversy when it was revealed that the woman was actually wearing a NAZI hat. He told my client that he could search on Fox News’s site and find information about the story. I have had no luck in finding anything about such a controversy. I’ve done many google searches, and made a futile attempt of searching on Fox News’s site (doing a search that includes “nazi” brings up dozens and dozens of stories … from the last month alone…), and nothing. But … curiously, the image is no longer on [istockphoto.com](http://istockphoto.com), as far as I can tell. Now, they went through a major site transition about a month or so ago (after my purchase), but I can’t find it in a search, can’t find it based on the serial number/original title of the image (“stock-photo-20584981-portrait-of-soldier-in-uniform.jpg”), can’t even find it in my download history or my lightboxes! I also have been unable to ID the hat itself—as being, say, a US Army cap worn between 1996-2000, or a USAF cap worn between 2002-2008, etc. If anyone out there has any insight into the alleged controversy or into the hat (what branch uses/used this cap, and when; if it’s a fake prop hat; if it’s actually a Canadian armed forces cap, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![bryanmaguire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bryanmaguire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmaguire)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/2 "2014-10-20T21:46:26Z")
Its US navy service khaki. the insignia is sorta like a petty officer except the bottom should be flat. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/3 "2014-10-20T21:50:47Z")
Looks pretty much like a US Navy women’s uniform cap [like these](http://www.bobbiandmike.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/navycap.jpg). The insignia, however, is a bit odd and doesn’t look like a US uniform insignia, despite the eagle. **bryanmaguire** : a Chief’s insignia is a fouled anchor, not an eagle. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/4 "2014-10-20T21:52:05Z")
You probably already found this, **toadspittle** , but a couple images of the same woman are on Getty; [Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images](http://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?family=creative&photographer=Tim%20Bieber), where the photographer is listed as Tim Bieber. I imagine this is the guy: [http://www.mrbigfilm.tv/stills/](http://www.mrbigfilm.tv/stills/). If you find out, I’d be interested to hear if there was a kerfuffle about it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/5 "2014-10-20T21:52:50Z")
I’ve never served in the military and I don’t know anything about a controversy, but a Google image search suggests to me that the insignia on the cap isn’t right. It doesn’t look Nazi (at least not to me), but it doesn’t look like the eagles on any of the U.S. military uniforms. ---
**Author:** ![Mogle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mogle/32/12021_2.png) [@Mogle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/6 "2014-10-20T21:53:48Z")
While the Nazi’s did have insignias with eagle designs on some of their uniform caps, I doubt any of those were based on the [US coat of arms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Seal_of_the_United_States) like the one in the linked image clearly is. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/7 "2014-10-20T21:58:28Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Looks pretty much like a US Navy women’s uniform cap [like these](http://www.bobbiandmike.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/navycap.jpg). The insignia, however, is a bit odd and doesn’t look like a US uniform insignia, despite the eagle. It’s the same eagle as [this](http://www.aliexpress.com/item/WWII-US-ARMY-OFFICER-CAP-EAGLE-BADGE-INSIGNIA-1126/1946391464.html), isn’t it? It’s just missing its legs and the seal/ribbon somehow. ---
**Author:** ![bryanmaguire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bryanmaguire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmaguire)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/8 "2014-10-20T22:01:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Looks pretty much like a US Navy women’s uniform cap [like these](http://www.bobbiandmike.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/navycap.jpg). The insignia, however, is a bit odd and doesn’t look like a US uniform insignia, despite the eagle. > > **bryanmaguire** : a Chief’s insignia is a fouled anchor, not an eagle. I thought it looked like this, which is for a Petty Officer. I didnt say chief. [http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/SUPPORT/UNIFORMS/UNIFORMREGULATIONS/CHAPTER4/Pages/4331.aspx](http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/SUPPORT/UNIFORMS/UNIFORMREGULATIONS/CHAPTER4/Pages/4331.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/9 "2014-10-20T22:06:14Z")
It’s not NAZI, so whoever said that is clueless. It looks, to me, like a modified petty officers insignia. Women in the Navy was a bit after my time, at least in any sorts of numbers, so not sure about all of the women hat insignia, but that’s what it looks like to me, FWIW. Or it could be someone trying to make one, since it doesn’t have the bars under it that I can tell. But NAZI? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/10 "2014-10-20T22:36:12Z")
It looks a little too simplified to be mainstream US DoD. I’m suspecting it’s something like a cadet insignia from either a service academy or a private military school. The uniform color & fabric looks Navy-ish, but that insignia shape is much closer to something USAF or Army might use. But that’s semi-informed guesswork, not established fact. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/11 "2014-10-20T22:42:10Z")
Not the same photo but I’m pretty sure [this](http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/04/dem-lawmaker-uses-german-luftwaffe-uniform-to-portray-u-s-navy-in-campaign-mailer/) is what the client was referring to. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/12 "2014-10-20T22:42:25Z")
This version of the photo has more visible at the bottom (the photo you used was cropped): > **[Portrait of a Caucasian Female Soldier in Uniform.](https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/portrait-of-soldier-in-uniform-royalty-free-image/82778364)** > > Portrait of a Caucasian Female Soldier in Uniform. There’s an insignia on the woman’s nametag, but it isn’t clear to me what that insignia is. Maybe someone will recognize it. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/13 "2014-10-20T22:56:24Z")
Is her name Godwin? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/14 "2014-10-20T23:03:29Z")
> [@bryanmaguire](#): > > I thought it looked like this, which is for a Petty Officer. I didnt say chief. > > [http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/SUPPORT/UNIFORMS/UNIFORMREGULATIONS/CHAPTER4/Pages/4331.aspx](http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/SUPPORT/UNIFORMS/UNIFORMREGULATIONS/CHAPTER4/Pages/4331.aspx) My mistake. Yeah, sort of like a PO insignia, but not really. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/15 "2014-10-20T23:21:24Z")
> [@yearofglad](#): > > This version of the photo has more visible at the bottom (the photo you used was cropped): > > [Portrait Of Soldier In Uniform High-Res Stock Photo - Getty Images](http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/portrait-of-soldier-in-uniform-royalty-free-image/82778364) > > There’s an insignia on the woman’s nametag, but it isn’t clear to me what that insignia is. Maybe someone will recognize it. Excellent find. Good work. The insignia on thee nametag looks a little too simplified versus what one usually sees on DoD nametags. As well the shade of blue of the nametag is not one I recognize. If it isn’t a service academy or civilian college as I suggested before, it might be a picture of an actress in the uniform of a made-up service for some movie or TV show. E.g. the US Space Force or … I just checked and it’s definitely not the insignia for the US Public Health Service or NOAA. Which are the last two minor uniformed DoD-like services. So there’s a couple more things it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/16 "2014-10-20T23:23:41Z")
I encounter a lot of amature legal and medical experts in meetings at my job. I guess I should be grateful the topic of militaria hasn’t emerged too. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/17 "2014-10-20T23:40:01Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Not the same photo but I’m pretty sure [this](http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/04/dem-lawmaker-uses-german-luftwaffe-uniform-to-portray-u-s-navy-in-campaign-mailer/) is what the client was referring to. > > CMC fnord! If that’s not it, you might also check for more images by the same photographer. Maybe the picture itself is fine, but there was another photo with the same model, in Nazi garb, or something. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/18 "2014-10-20T23:53:22Z")
What’s obvious is that your client’s client is a moron who reads/watches/follows FOX News. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/19 "2014-10-21T00:03:55Z")
Wow-- great sleuthing, everyone. Special thanks to **Bayard** and **crowmanyclouds** for their finds. I am willing to bet that the story in crow’s link is the one my client’s client was (mistakenly) thinking of. I also contacted Tim Bieber (the photographer) to ask if it was a real uniform or a prop one, and he and his team got back to me very promptly. He said: > [@](#): > > All of the pictures in this series were shot for Getty several years ago. They are all generic uniforms, sourced from prop houses in LA. It’s against the law (apparently) to use the real ones in advertising. Which makes sense (the fact—or at least belief among photographers and filmmakers; I haven’t checked it out myself—that it’s illegal to use real military uniforms for advertising purposes). Many thanks! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948/20 "2014-10-21T00:33:25Z")
A double idiot. That is neither a Nazi hat nor a Nazi badge. It is used by the CURRENT Luftwaffe, the one we like. :smack: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-this-stock-photo-woman-in-military-dress-uniform-involved-in-a-brouhaha/701948.md?page=2)