The United States Army suffered from frequent instances of friendly fire during World War II, particularly in nighttime urban fighting zones. Therefore, the U.S. government saw the need for a strategy that would simultaneously raise a soldier’s profile and lessen the likelihood of friendly fire.

The U.S. military adopted the Switzer brothers‘ reflecting fabrics from the 1930s after one of the brothers was injured while unloading containers in Berkeley, California.

Uniforms and sportswear have been the sole applications of reflective textiles for decades.

Scottish train workers were given the odd uniform in 1964 as an experiment and used it until 1967. The fabric was initially intended to improve drivers’ visibility. 

Since then, numerous people and groups concerned with public safety have employed reflective fabrics to make reflective safety vests and other forms of high-visibility gear.