Army bosses order SAS troops to stop wearing skull badges celebrating their first kill on operations

SAS troops have been ordered to stop wearing skull badges because it looks too much like a Nazi emblem.

The skull is worn by some soldiers after they make their first kill on operations and started being used while troops were serving with US Navy Seals in Iraq.

However officials are said to have put a stop to this as the Punisher emblem looks too similar to the Death’s Head worn by Hitler’s SS, reports the Daily Star.

SAS troops have been ordered to stop wearing a Punisher skull, left, because it looks similar to the Death’s Head Nazi emblem, right, which was worn by members of the SS

Punisher is the name of a Marvel series made for Netflix which follows Marine veteran Frank Castle who becomes a vigilante after the murder of his family.

In Nazi Germany the SS Totenkopf division, whose members tended to run the concentration camps, wore a skull symbol on their uniform.

A skull was the universal badge of the SS but the Totenkopf division also wore the insignia on their right collars when needed to distinguish the group from other units.

It is believed that the SAS troops were informed of the decision after army chiefs visited G-Squadron’s base in Herefordshire. 

Some soldiers would wear a skull they make their first combat kill as a sign of recognition of the dangerous work they had completed (file picture)

A source said: ‘The SAS are professional killers – that’s the job. So what if they wear a skull on their uniform.

‘We have been told that it could be upsetting to other units and disrespectful to enemy forces.’

They also explained that not everybody chooses to wear the skull badge after a combat kill, and that it’s a sign of recognition of the dangerous work completed.

Ex-Sergeant Trevor Coult, who won the Military Cross in Iraq, said the ruling was ‘politically correct nonsense and it is ludicrous’.

The Ministry of Defence told MailOnline it does not comment on special forces operations.