Our Maccabee Special Forces design is a tribute to two of the greatest forces for freedom history has ever known: The Hasmonean (Maccabee) Rebellion of Ancient Judea, and the U.S. Army’s Special Forces, commonly known, on account of their distinctive headgear, as the Green Berets.
How did these ancient Israelite warriors resemble today’s Special Forces? The Maccabees recruited and trained a formidable insurgency. They led a homegrown campaign of asymmetric warfare against a numerically and technologically superior foe. And driven by an unwavering faith in the justice of their cause, and the desire to free the oppressed, they liberated the Judean homeland from the forces of a brutal occupation.
The crest of the 1st Maccabee Regiment is modeled after that of the Special Forces, with several distinctions:
• The arrows have been replaced with spears, similar to those that would have been used by Seleucid occupation forces in the days of the Maccabees.
• In place of a Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, our emblem features a hammer, which is what “Maccabee” means in English.
• The Latin motto of Special Forces is “De Oppresso Liber,” “To Free the Oppressed.” Our motto, written in Ancient Hebrew script, is “Le-matir Asurim,” which translates to roughly the same. It is inspired by an ancient blessing recited every morning by devout Jews.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה … מַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים
In English, it is commonly rendered as: “Blessed art Thou, O L-rd, who releases the captive."
Show your support for the freedom fighters of all generations with Maccabee Apparel’s “Special Forces” products.
De Oppresso Liber!/להתיר אסורים