Dog Tags

A Dogtag or Dog Tag is the informal name for the identification tags worn by military personnel, nicknamed as such because of their resemblance to actual dog tags. The tag is primarily used for the identification of dead and wounded along with providing essential basic medical information for the treatment of the latter such as blood type and history of inoculations. Dog tags are usually fabricated from a corrosion-resistant metal or alloy such as aluminum, monel or stainless-steel, although during war-time they have been made from whatever metals were available. In the event the member has a medical condition that requires special attention, an additional red tag with the pertinent information is issued and worn with the dog tags.

Wearing of the tag is required at all times by soldiers in the field. It may contain two copies of the information and be designed to break easily into two pieces. This allows half the tag to be collected for notification while the other half remains with the body when battle conditions do not allow the casualty to be immediately recovered. Alternatively, two identical tags are issued. One is worn on a long chain around the neck; the second on a much smaller chain attached to the first chain. In the event the wearer is killed the second tag is collected and the first remains with the body.

In-Game


Dog tags are used in Battlefield 2142, Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3, as rewards for knifing an enemy player in multiplayer. They show up like any other reward when acquired, being displayed for a short period of time at the center-top or the center of the screen for the Bad Company series and Battlefield 2142 respectively.

Battlefield 2142
In Battlefield 2142, dogtags were introduced to reward players who earned knife kills. Players who earned 50 career knife kills were also awarded the "Dogtag Dagger", a cosmetic replacement for the knife.

The dogtags collected do not differ in any way, except for the name of the killed player changing accordingly. An example dogtag with the name "[DICE]ThXu4&beta;p1y" appears at the end of the game's introductory video, an enduring thank-you to beta testers.

Players could view their dogtag collection in the "BFHQ" game menu, or on various online stat servers (including EA's own).

Bad Company series
In the Bad Company series, the rank of the player killed changes the appearance of the dogtag when acquired:


 * Bronze - Earned for killing someone in ranks starting from 1 and adding by 3 each time (1, 4, 7, 10) in Battlefield: Bad Company and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (except for Ranks 25 and 50).
 * Silver - Earned for killing someone in ranks starting from 2 and adding by 3 each time (2, 5, 8, 11) in Battlefield: Bad Company and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
 * Gold - Earned for killing someone in ranks starting from 3 and adding by 3 each time (3, 6, 9, 12) in Battlefield: Bad Company and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (that includes Ranks 25 and 50).

In Battlefield: Bad Company, extra points would be awarded for knifing an enemy depending on their in game level. For example, if an enemy is level 10 when knifed, 10 extra points will be awarded to their killer.

Players can view all the dogtags they have earned at the "Stats" section of the main menu of either Bad Company game. There the player can view the Xbox Live Gamertag, EA Account ID or PlayStation Network username of every person killed using the knife.

Battlefield 3
In Battlefield 3, dogtags return, and are still awarded when a player is killed through melee combat, although the combat system changes compared to older games. Players must use a Takedown kill to earn a dogtag, which is reflected in the kill animations.

Players can customise the appearance of their dogtags to personalize the tags, displaying user's IDs, ranks, images, etc., to distinguish themselves when killed. This is done through using the Dogtag editor on Battlelog or the Dogtag menu on consoles. Special designs of dogtags are awarded for multiple things, such as ranking up, acquiring weapon service stars and acquiring ribbons. Dogtags in Battlefield 3 are divided into two sets - standard tags, such as rank icons, weapon tags and other easily acquirable tags are in this class. This class represents the left tag, and is on the same tag as the player's name and clan tag. "Special" tags, such as those for previous Battlefield games, and more high-profile tags, are represented on the second, right-hand tag.