Latvia was known as the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvijas Padomju Sociālistiskā Republika) between 1940 and 1991. While part of the Soviet Union, the nation's Armed Forces were under the administration of the USSR. Since achieving its independence in 1991 and subsequent membership in NATO, the armed forces of Latvia have taken great measures to distinguish themselves from their Soviet predecessors. Early Latvian camouflage patterns, although influenced by those of the Soviet Union, are nevertheless distinctive enough to warrant separate categorization of their own. The nation is today known as the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika).
