Sweden's M90 splinter pattern, adopted in 1990, is the oldest combat camouflage still standard-issue anywhere in this 30-country comparison — every EU member state plus the UK, Norway and Switzerland. Nine countries are actively mid-transition right now: Germany (Flecktarn → Multitarn, Army-wide buying starting 2026), Greece, Switzerland, Poland, Norway, Ireland, Slovakia, France and Belgium (fielding MultiCam since November 2022 under its €410m Belgian Defence Clothing System), each shown on the timeline with its old pattern's adoption year and a dashed arrow to the new one.

Reading the timeline

Position on the timeline is the real adoption year of whichever pattern is actually issued to most troops today — for a transitioning country, that's still the older pattern until the rollout is genuinely complete. France's BME, for example, began fielding in December 2024 with the rollout continuing to 2026, so it's plotted at 2024 with an open-ended transition marker rather than treated as fully settled.

Malta's pattern is documented and verifiable: a MultiCam-style AFM combat uniform adopted 1 August 2014, shown on the chart with a confirmed adoption year rather than the unverified marker some earlier charts used.

This is a fast-moving area — several entries (Luxembourg, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Greece) rest on a single source and are flagged for a second-source check in the sources section below before being cited elsewhere.

Europe's current combat camouflage by adoption year

Sorting Europe's current combat camouflage by adoption year is what makes a 9-country transition visible at all — a same-pattern snapshot would miss that almost a third of this list is mid-swap right now. Adoption year, not alphabetical order or NATO membership, is the only axis that tells that story — it's the same reason this sheet is combat camouflage by adoption year and not combat camouflage by country name.

Frequently asked questions

Which country has the oldest combat camouflage still in service?

Sweden. Its M90 splinter pattern was adopted in 1990 and remains the oldest combat camouflage still standard-issue anywhere across the 30 countries compared here — every EU member state plus the UK, Norway and Switzerland.

How many countries does this comparison cover?

30 in total: all 27 EU member states plus the UK, Norway and Switzerland, each plotted by the adoption year of whichever pattern is actually issued to most troops today.

Which countries are currently switching to a new camouflage pattern?

Nine are actively mid-transition right now: Germany, Greece, Switzerland, Poland, Norway, Ireland, Slovakia, France and Belgium. Each is shown on the timeline with its old pattern’s adoption year and a dashed arrow to the new one.

What pattern is Germany switching to?

Germany is moving from Flecktarn to Multitarn, with army-wide buying starting in 2026 — one of the nine active transitions tracked on this timeline.

When was Malta's current camouflage pattern adopted?

1 August 2014. Malta’s pattern is a MultiCam-style AFM combat uniform, and its adoption date is documented and verifiable.

Why isn't France's new pattern treated as fully adopted yet?

France’s BME began fielding in December 2024 with the rollout continuing to 2026, so it’s plotted at 2024 with an open-ended transition marker rather than treated as a settled, completed switch.

Sources

National defence ministries where available · Camopedia.org · Wikipedia · SoldierSystems.net. Full per-country citations and confidence ratings compiled August 2026 — this is an actively-changing subject; verify before reuse.