AFMS history: The AFMS badges and medical service seal Published April 29, 2009 By James S. Nanney, Ph.D. Air Force Surgeon General Historian WASHINGTON -- The AFMS seal and all Air Force medical badges have a central design -- a single snake coiled around a staff. This was the ancient Greek symbol for the healing arts, known as the snake and staff of Aesculapius, a mythological Greek physician who inspired a popular medical cult in ancient times. For 2,000 years, the snake and staff of Aesculapius have been the symbol of medicine and the healing arts. Badges: In July 1949, Air Force medical personnel inherited only two Army Air Forces medical badges -- the flight surgeon's badge and the flight nurse's badge. The new Air Force Medical Service needed other specialty badges to reflect its officer career fields. The AFMS was created with six officer Corps -- medical, dental, nurse, medical service, veterinary, and women's medical specialist. Each corps had a promotion list that was separate from that of the Air Force Line. Yet none of these medical corps had an approved Air Force specialty badge for several years. In the mid-1950s, the Medical Corps, Dental Corps, and Nurse Corps were finally authorized special badges. The Veterinary Corps, Medical Service Corps, and Biomedical Sciences Corps badges followed in 1968. The Veterinary badge, however, disappeared with the disestablishment of the Air Force Veterinary Corps in 1980. The Enlisted Medical occupational badge was approved in 1987. Only one corps -- the Women's Medical Specialist Corps -- never had a distinctive corps badge. This corps was renamed the Medical Specialist Corps in 1955. It was absorbed into the new Biomedical Sciences Corps in 1965. The Biomedical Sciences Corps received its own badge three years later. The AFMS Seal: The first Air Force Medical Service Seal was approved in 1968 for use in AFMS publications and displays. The six stars on the seal represented the six AFMS corps at that time: Medical, Dental, Nurse, Veterinary, Medical Service, and Biomedical Sciences. Although the sixth star now stands for the Enlisted Medical occupation, the design of the seal has not changed. Its basic symbol is the snake and staff of Aesculapius, white in color, overlaying a white and silver shield. (This article is part of an ongoing series being published by the SG Newswire honoring the 60th birthday of the AFMS.) USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez)