Official VP-40 Fighting Marlins Christmas Patch and Name Tags - Patrol Squadron FORTY (VP-40) Fighting Marlins holiday-themed embroidered patch and matching name tags, officially associated with the squadron at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington.
Laging Handa, always ready, and always Fighting Marlins, whether on deployment or celebrating the season together at home.
VP-40 was commissioned on January 20, 1951, at NAS North Island, California, and earned the Fighting Marlins name when it became the first West Coast squadron to operate the P5M Marlin seaplane. The squadron adopted its motto, Laging Handa, meaning always ready, during its time homeported at Sangley Point in the Philippines in 1959. Decades of WESTPAC deployments, Vietnam-era patrols, Cold War maritime surveillance, and operations supporting INHERENT RESOLVE, ENDURING FREEDOM HOA, and PACIFIC EAGLE built a lineage that spans every era of Navy patrol aviation. In 1993 the squadron settled at NAS Whidbey Island, and in May 2020 VP-40 completed the Navy's final active-duty transition from the P-3C Orion to the P-8A Poseidon, closing one chapter and opening another. A Christmas patch and name tags set captures the squadron's holiday tradition, the kind of unit-culture moment that aircrew, maintainers, and families remember long after a deployment ends. The embroidered format gives the design the classic squadron feel that fits shadow boxes, cruise displays, and personal collections built around real service stories.
Perfect For: VP-40 veterans and active-duty members, P-8A Poseidon and P-3C Orion aircrew, Fighting Marlins families and supporters, NAS Whidbey Island alumni, Navy maritime patrol collectors, holiday reunion gifts, deployment homecoming keepsakes, shadow box displays, patch boards, and anyone preserving the unit culture and seasonal traditions of one of the Navy's most storied patrol squadrons. The name tag pairing makes this set especially meaningful for sailors who want a complete, wearable tribute to their time with the Fighting Marlins during the holiday season.
Fighting Marlins heritage, stitched for the season and kept for a lifetime.
