There is a place in Alabama which will produce unit patches. We're talking 100 min.order at $2.40. These patches which appear on e-bay seem to be the real deal. The patches we have on our uniforms were made the same way with the gator on the blue or yellow back ground. Comparing it to the ones I have it appears to be real. I would say that these were never on someone's shirt. The girls at Kim Lien's taylor shop would fold the back ground behind the patch before sewing it on. We wore these on the left pocket. The Croc patch didn't have this type on back ground. I will just have to wait and see.