Supposedly, the Brazilian expeditionary force to Europe in WWII had smoking snakes on their insignias because of a popular saying claiming the Brazilians will never join the war.
Problem is, I saw this saying attributed the the Brazilian PM, to certain Nazi officers and even to Hitler himself - and I could never find a direct quote or a reliable source. So, do we know where this phrase comes from? Or is it just a myth?
It was just a common expression among Brazilian soldiers, usually used as a joke about how they would never end up on the front. When the Brazilian Expeditionary Force was created, they chose a smoking snake as their insignia to reflect this attitude. As far as I've read, it just originates with the Brazilian military and was used as a phrase similar to "when pigs fly".