# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Uniforms

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​UNIFORMS. The word “uniform” (Lat. unus, one, and forma, form), meaning adjectively homogeneous, is specifically used as a substantive for the distinctive naval and military dress, which serves, in its various styles, to give homogeneity to the several services, regiments and ranks. Although in ancient history we occasionally meet with uniformed soldiers, such as the white and crimson Spanish regiments of Hannibal, it was not until the beginning of large standing armies that uniforms were introduced in modern times. Before this, armed bodies were of two sorts, retainers and mercenaries, and while the former often wore their master’s livery, the latter were dressed each according to his own taste or means. The absence of uniforms accounts very largely for the significance attached to the colours and standards, which alone formed rallying points for the soldier and his comrades, and thus acquired the sacred character which they have since possessed. A man who left the colours wandered into the terrifying unknown, for there was nothing to distinguish friend and foe. Even if the generals had ordered the men to wear some improvised badge such as a sprig of leaves, or the shirt outside the coat, such badges as these were easily lost or taken off. The next step in advance was a scarf of uniform colour, such as it is supposed was worn by the “green,” “yellow” and other similarly-named brigades of the Swedish army under Gustavus Adolphus. This too was easily removed, as in the example of the squire who at Edgehill put on the orange scarf of the parliamentarians and with no more elaborate disguise succeeded in recapturing the lost royal standard from the hands of Essex’s own secretary. By this time, in France at least, the general character of the clothes and accoutrements to be worn on various occasions was strictly regulated by orders. But uniformity of clothing was not to be expected so long as the “enlistment” system prevailed and soldiers came and went, were taken in and dismissed, at the beginning and 'end of every campaign. The beginnings of uniform are therefore to be found in truly national armies, in the Indelta of Gustavus, and the English armies of the Great Rebellion. In the earlier years of the latter, though the richer colonels uniformed their men (as, for instance, the marquess of Newcastle’s “Whitecoats” and the king’s own “Bluecoats”), the rustics and the citizens turned out for war in their ordinary rough clothes, donning armour and sword-belt. But in 1645 the parliament raised an army “all its own” for permanent service, and the colonels became officials rather than proprietors. The “new model” was clothed in the civilian costume of the date—ample coat, waistcoat, breeches, stockings and shoes (in the case of cavalry, boots)—but with the distinctive colour throughout the army of red and with regimental facings of various colours. The breeches were grey. Soon afterwards the helmet disappeared, and its place was taken by a grey broad-brimmed hat. From the coat was evolved the tunic of to-day, and the hat became the cocked hat of a later generation, which has never altogether disappeared, and has indeed reverted to its original form in the now familiar “slouch-hat.”
For service in Ireland the red coat was exchanged for one of russet colour, just as scarlet gave way to khaki for Indian service in the 19th century. The cavalry, however, wore buff leather coats and armour long after the infantry had abandoned them; the Austrians (see Plate I., line 1, No. 2), on account of their Turkish wars, retained them longer than any.
Thus the principle ever since followed—uniform coat and variegated facings—was established. Little or nothing of sentiment led to this. By choice or convenience the majority of the corps out of which the new model was formed had come to be dressed in red, with facings according to the colonel’s taste, and it is a curious fact that in Austria sixty years afterwards events took the same course. The colonels there uniforming their men as they saw fit, had by tacit consent, probably to obtain “wholesale” prices, agreed upon a serviceable colour (pearl grey), and when in 1707 Prince Eugene procured the issue of uniform regulations, few line regiments had to be reclothed. The preferences of the colonel were exhibited in the colour of the facings (Plate I., line 1, fig. 3). In France, as in England and Austria, the cavalry, as yet rather led by the wealthy classes than officered by the professional, was not uniformed upon an army system until after the infantry. But in 1688 six-sevenths of the French cavalry was uniformed in light grey with red facings; and about half the dragoon regiments had red uniforms and blue facings. Louvois, in creating a standing army, had introduced an infantry uniform as a necessary consequence. The native French regiments had light grey coats, the Swiss red, the German black and the Italian blue, with various facings. The French grey was probably decided upon, like the Austrian grey, as being a good “service” colour, which could be cheaply manufactured (Plate I., ​line 1, fig. 1). Both these greys, however, refined themselves in course of time into white.
​The hat and the long coat and breeches remained the uniform of line infantry almost everywhere up to the advent of the shako and the coatee about 1790–1820. The gradual evolution of these two garments, from the comfortable civilian clothes of 1690 to the stiff, precise military garments of 1790, can be traced in a few words. The brim of the felt hat was first looped up on one side for convenience, then, for appearance’ sake, on the other, and so became the three-cornered cocked hat, fringed with feathers, lace or braid, of Marlborough’s wars. Then came the fashion of looping up before and behind, which produced the hat called the “Khevenhüller,” or the broadside-on cocked hat. Lastly, came the purely decorative, lace-looped “fore-and-aft” pattern, as worn in many states to-day. But before this came into vogue the cocked hat had practically disappeared from the ordinary ranks of all armies. It may be said that so long as the cocked hat survived in its simple, rank-and-file form, uniforms retained much of their looseness. Though the long skirts that rendered great coats unnecessary were looped back, and the ample cuffs of Marlborough’s time were becoming narrower until they were at last sewn down to the sleeve, yet the military costume was in all essentials the civil costume of the time—long coat, hat, sleeved waistcoat, breeches and gaiters.
But other influences were at work. The principal was the introduction into armies of Slavonic irregulars, which tended to restrict line infantry and cavalry to parade drill and to pitched battles in parade order. This, and their complete separation from the civil population, stiffened their costume until it became “soldierly.” Frederick the Great, indeed, could not have developed the infantry fire power that he needed if his soldiers had had tight sleeves, but in his old age the evil of sacrificing comfort to smartness attained a height which, except in the 1820–1840 period, was never surpassed. The figure of a Prussian fusilier, Plate I. line 1, No. 7 (in which by mistake a slung sword is shown) shows this process beginning. The stock has made its appearance, soon to stiffen into a cloth collar, under which, as if it were not already tight enough, another stock in due course came to be worn. The flapped cuffs, shown in the British figure No. 5, have become plain round cuffs, above which are embroidery stripes and buttons which at one time laced the flaps of the cuff together and now survive as the “guard-stripe.” This may be called the first instance of the dummy adornments, which are so marked in modern full-dress uniforms. Similarly the former cloth turnback on the front of the coat has even in 1756 been cut off, the buttons and embroidered loops that retained it being kept as decorations.
Many of these specially military adornments were borrowed from the national costumes of the irregulars themselves. Their head-gear in particular drove out the cocked hat. The grenadier cap, now a towering bearskin, was its first successful rival, the shako the next. The grenadier cap was, in the first instance, a limp conical cap (identical with the hussar cap), edged with fur and having a tassel at the end. Soon the fur became more prominent in the front, and the tail disappeared. Then the cloth mitre-cap (Plate I., line 1, fig. 6) appeared. This was originally a field-service cap, with ear-flaps and sunshade. But it stiffened about 1775 into a fur cap of the same shape (with which sometimes the old cloth tail is found), and this in turn evolved, through the fuller but still narrow and forward-pointing bearskin of Peninsular days, into the great fur cap of grenadiers and fusiliers of the present time. The mitre-shaped cloth cap survives in a few Russian and Prussian regiments. As early as 1755, as the Prussian figure shows, a conical leather cap with a large brass plate in front had come into existence. This held its ground for some time, and the grenadier cap of to-day in Russia and Prussia is a metal copy of the mitre field-service cap itself. A curious derivative of the low fur cap with a peak in front and a bag-tail behind worn by some 17th- and 18th-century grenadiers is the head-dress of the Russian horse-grenadiers. The peak has become the helmet, the fur a “sausage” across the cap from ear to ear, and the back part of the helmet is covered by the bag-tail.
The Hungarian hussars introduced the jacket and the busby. The latter was originally a conical cap with fur edge, but the fur became higher until there was nothing left of the cap but the ornamental “busby-bag” of to-day. It would appear also as if the hussars brought the shako to western Europe. This is a conical, bell-topped, or cylindrical head-dress of stiff material, commonly leather. Its prototype, the tall cylindrical cap of the 18th-century hussars, was tilted on one side and wound round with a very narrow bag-tail, the last few inches of which, adorned with a tassel, hung down. But the shako itself succeeded, as nothing else succeeded, in being accepted by line infantry and cavalry, and after passing through numerous forms it remains in every army to-day, either as a low rigid cap (Germany, England and Austria), a stiffened or limp képi (France and Italy), or the flat-topped peaked cap which is the most common military head-dress of modern Europe.
All these adjuncts came in the first place from the national costume of imported auxiliaries. So also did the lancer cap, which, originally the Polish czapka, was a cylindrical cap, the upper part of which could be pushed up or down after the fashion of a bellows or accordion, with a square top. The original form is seen in Plate I., line 2, fig. 4, and the stiffened development of it in Plate I., line 3, fig. 1. The British lancer cap (Plate II., line 1, No. 2) has still a full middle portion, but in Austria and Germany this has dwindled to a very narrow neck (Plate II., line 3, No. 6; Plate IV., line 1, No. 7). The line infantry and cavalry coat, full-skirted in the first instance, retained its original length until about 1780, but from that time onwards (probably in most cases in the interests of the colonel’s pocket) it becomes, little by little, shorter and scantier (Plate I., line 2, Nos. 2, 3, and 5), until at last it is a “coatee,” not as long as the present-day tunic (Plate I., Line 2, Nos. 6 and 8), or a swallow-tailed coat (Plate I., line 3, figs. 1–3). This, of course, did away with the protection afforded by the full skirt, and necessitated the introduction of the great coat, which even to-day in some cases is worn, without the tunic, over the “vest” that represents the sleeved waistcoat (Plate II., line 2, No. 3), formerly worn under the long skirted coat. The white breeches and gaiters, retained to the last, gradually gave way to trousers and ankle boots in 1800–1820.
Meanwhile another form of head-dress, which was purely military and owed nothing to Poland or Hungary, came into vogue. This was the helmet, which had disappeared from the infantry about 1650–1670, and the cavalry thirty years afterwards. It took two forms, both of which possessed some of the characteristics of ancient Greek and Roman helmets. These were a small helmet with sausage-shaped ornament from front to back, worn chiefly by British light dragoons and artillery (Plate I., line 2, fig. 7), and the towering crested helmet worn by the French, British and Austrians. The French cuirassiers and dragoons (Plate I., line 2, No. 3) had, and still have, long horsehair tails dependent from the crest. The Austrian infantry helmet, worn with the white coat, similar to, but smaller than, that shown in Plate II., line 2, No. 5, had no ornament, but the British heavy cavalry helmet (Plate I., line 2, No. 8) resembled that of the French. To-day, besides the French, the Austrian dragoons and Italian heavy cavalry have this form of helmet (Plate II., line 3, No. 1, and Plate IV., line 2, No. 8).
It has been said above that the coatee and the shako are the principal novelties in European military costumes of Napoleon’s time. To these should be added the replacement of the gaitered breeches by trousers, and the adoption of hussar and lancer uniforms of ever-growing sumptuousness, in which the comfort that had originally belonged to these national irregular costumes was entirely sacrificed. After Waterloo, indeed, all traces of the old-fashioned coat disappeared, and, except for the doubtful gain of tight-fitting “overalls,” the soldier was more showy and worse off in comfort and convenience than ever before or since. One or two examples may be quoted. In George IV.’s time ​the coatees of the lifeguards were so tight that the men were unable to perform their sword exercise, and their crested helmet, surmounted by a “sausage” ornament, was so high that the sword could not be raised for a downward blow. The total height of the lancer cap with its plume (Plate I., line 3, No. 1) was about an arm’s length, and prints exist showing British lancers in a cap of which the square top is very nearly as broad as the wearer’s shoulders. The hussar furred pelisse, originally worn over a jacket (Plate I., line 1, fig. 4), and so worn by the Austrians to-day, had become a magnificently embroidered and laced garment, always slung and never worn, and the old plain under-jacket had been loaded with buttons and lace, and differed from the pelisse only in the absence of fur. It was the Restoration era, too, that delighted to decorate uniforms with sewn-down imitations of the skirt pockets, turn-back cuffs, &c., of the old coat. This was, in short, the epoch of pure dandyism, and although some of its wilder extravagances were abolished between 1830 and 1850, enough still remained when the British army took the field in the Crimea to bring about a sudden and violent reaction, in which the slovenliest dress was accounted the best. The dress regulations of 1855 introduced the low “Albert” shako and the tunic, abolished the epaulette—an ornament which had grown in the 18th century out of a shoulder cord that kept the belts in place and was decorated at the outer end with a few loose strands or tassels of embroidery—and made other changes which, without bringing back uniform to its original roominess and comfort, destroyed not only the dandyism of George IV.’s time, but also the chastened finery of the Early Victorian uniforms (Plate I., line 3, No. 7).
The tunic, accompanied by a spiked helmet of burgonet shape, had been introduced in Prussia and Russia about 1835. Russia was too poor to allow extravagance in dress, and Russians, clothed as they generally were in their great coats, had little incentive to aim at futile splendour. Both countries, however, and France and Austria likewise, passed through a period of tight, if unadorned, uniforms, before Algeria, Italy, and similar experiences brought about the abandonment of the swallow-tailed coatee. The French adopted the tunic in 1853, the Austrians in 1856, and in both countries the shako became smaller and lighter. From about 1880, when the spiked helmet replaced the low shako in England, no radical changes were made in full dress uniforms, except that the Russian army, abandoning the German pattern uniforms formerly in vogue, adopted a national uniform which is simple, roomy, and exceedingly plain, even in full dress. In 1906–1909, however, this attempt to combine handsomeness and comfort was given up, full dresses being made more decorative, and light green-grey service dresses being introduced. Lastly, since the South African War and the development of infantry fire, the attempt to wear full dress uniform on active service has been practically given up. Great Britain first of all adopted the Indian khaki, and then a drab mixture for “service dress” and returned, after 150 years, to the civilian style of field dress, adopting the “Norfolk jacket” or shooting coat with spinal pleat and roomy pockets. Germany, Italy, the United States and other countries have followed suit, though each has chosen its own shade, and the shades vary from light grey blue in Italy to deep olive drab in the United States. The details of the present-day uniforms in the principal states are given below. It might be stated, as a summary of modern uniforms, that Great Britain has most completely divorced service and full dress, and that in consequence her full dress is handsomer and her service dress plainer than those of any other country. Whether, for European war at any rate, the obliteration of regimental distinctions has not been carried too far, is open to question. The method adopted for the Italian infantry would seem to give enough means of identification, without increasing visibility, and as this method was used by the British in the South African War, it will probably be revived in future wars.
Great Britain
The full dress uniforms of the British service in 1910 had not undergone any radical change since the army reorganization of 1881. Many regiments had, however, resumed their original facings instead of the White common to all non-royal English regiments in the last twenty years of the 19th century. But the Scottish regiments maintained their yellow or yellow-buff facings, and the single Irish regiment which is not “royal” (the Connaught Rangers) its green. Rifle regiments had astrakhan busbies, resembling in shape enlarged “glengarry” caps, with plume and lines. Details in all corps have been changed, rendering the uniforms more handsome. In September 1910 it was announced that the cloth helmet would be replaced by a shako.
Cavalry.—Household cavalry and dragoons wear single-breasted tunics with gold buttons, cuffs pointed with Austrian knot collars and shoulder-straps of the facings colour and white piping on the front and the skirt-flaps. The household cavalry wear steel cuirasses in review order, and in undress tight-fitting jackets and blue red-striped overalls. All wear steel or brass helmets, with drooping horsehair plumes, except the Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons). who have a grenadier bearskin with feather plume. All wear blue pantaloons and jack boots, except the household cavalry, who in full dress wear white leather breeches and high jack boots reaching above the knee. The stripes on the pantaloons are yellow, (white in 2nd and 6th Dragoon Guards), white belts and slings. See Plate II., line 1, figs. 4 and 9.
Lancers (Plate II. line 1. No. 2) wear double-breasted tunics with gold buttons, and the front or “plastron,” the peculiar mark of the lancer, varies in colour with the facings of the regiment. Lancers wear lancer caps (the Polish czapka) with drooping plumes. Pantaloons are blue. with yellow stripes (white in 17th), boots as in the dragoons. Round the waist is a girdle of yellow and red, and the cap is secured to the collar of the tunic by yellow lines.
The undress cap is in all the above blue, with bands of various colours, amongst which the most noticeable is the white zigzag on a black background of the Scots Greys.
Hussars (Plate I., line 1, figs. 1 and 3) wear a blue jacket, shorter than the ordinary tunic, braided with yellow or gold in front, along the back seams and on the collars and cuffs. They have no shoulder-straps, facings or waist-belt. The 3rd Hussars wear, however, scarlet and the 13th white, collars. The distinctive head-dress is the cylindrical busby with an upright feather plume, lines, and a busby-bag on the right side. The pantaloons are blue, except for the 11th Hussars, who wear crimson. Double stripes on the trousers, yellow (white, 13th). The undress cap is a red peaked cap. Officers’ Hessian boots have gold edging and boss.
Infantry.—The uniforms of the four Foot Guard regiments are distinguished by the cuffs, which have slashed flaps and buttons, by the blue shoulder-straps and by the embroidery patches on the collar, cuff-flaps and skirts, which are analogous to the Garde-Litzen of continental armies. The only uniform which could be mistaken for it is the Royal Marine Light Infantry’s (Plate IV. line 3. No. 1), which has also slashed flaps, but it has fewer and smaller embroidery patches and plain collars. All the Guard regiments wear scarlet tunics with blue collars, shoulder-straps and cuffs, bearskin caps, blue trousers with red piping (officers, red stripe). The regimental distinctions (Plate II., line 2, Nos. 3 and 6) are: Grenadiers—Buttons equally spaced, white plume, red cap-band. Coldstream—Buttons spaced in twos. red plume, white cap-band. Scots—Buttons in threes, no plume, diced red and white cap-band. Irish—Buttons in fours, green plume, green cap-band. All wear in undress the white jacket, which is the old sleeved waistcoat, and peaked cap.
The uniforms of the line infantry may be classed as Line, Light, Fusilier, Rifle, Lowland and Highland Scottish. The tunic in the first three is red, with pointed cuffs and collars of the facings colour (blue in Royal regiments, white in English and Welsh, yellow in Scottish, green in Irish, except where the older colours have been revived), red shoulder-straps, gold buttons and white piping, blue trousers with red piping. On the shoulder-strap in the case of the rank and file is the regimental title, on the collar the regimental badge. The line infantry have a dark blue helmet (Plate II., line 2, No. 7). with brass spike and ornaments; the light infantry a dark green helmet of the same pattern; the fusiliers (Plate II., line 2, fig. 4) bear or racoon skin cap with hackle plume. In undress all ranks have a blue (green for light infantry) peaked cap, with a black (royal regiments, scarlet, non-royal Irish, green) band. The rifle regiments (Plate II., line 2, No. 8) wear very dark green tunics and trousers without coloured cuffs or collars. In the King’s Royal Rifles the scarlet piping and collar form a conspicuous distinction. The head-dress of the rifle regiments is an astrakhan cap with plume (red and black, K.R.R.; dark green and black, K.I.R.; black, Rifle Brigade), in undress a dark green peaked cap.
The Lowland and Highland Scottish regiments wear a scarlet (Scottish Rifles, green) “doublet” with gauntlet cuffs (Plate II., line 2, Nos. 2 and 10.) In undress Highland regiments wear the white jacket. Highland regiments wear tartan kilt and plaid and sporran (varying with the regiments), diced hose-tops and white spats, Lowland regiments (also Scottish Rifles, Highland Light Infantry, and all mounted officers) tartan trews. The head-dress of Highland regiments is a “feather bonnet”—a loose fur cap of peculiar shape with hackle. The Highland Light Infantry wear a small shako with a red and white diced band and ball. Lowland regiments (except the Royal Scots Fusiliers) wear the Kilmarnock bonnet (Plate II., line 2, No. 2). The Scottish Rifles have a shako with black drooping plume. The undress cap of all Scottish infantry is the “glengarry.”
The full dress of officers is similar to that of the men, but it is more ornamented (see below for badges of rank). In all English and Irish regiments clothed in scarlet a crimson waist-sash is worn by officers. Guards officers on ceremonial occasions wear a gold and crimson sash. On the collar and cuffs there are broad edgings of lace terminating in the case of the cuffs in a small Austrian knot. The rifle Jacket is of hussar pattern with black embroidery and a black pouch belt (Plate II., line 2, fig. 8.) The Highland officer has a special pattern of sword; in full dress the basket-hilted claymore (so-called) or a plainer sword decorated with ribbon, on service a plain cross-hilted sword. He has also a richly decorated dirk, a broad white baldric, and a very full sash over the left shoulder. Lowland officers have also the shoulder belt and claymore, &c.
Royal Artillery.—The Royal Horse Artillery (Plate II., line 1, fig. 7) wears an old-fashioned hussar uniform, consisting of busby with red bag and white plume, a blue jacket with 18 rows of gold braid and scarlet collar. Trousers blue with red stripe. The Royal Field and Royal Garrison Artillery (Plate II., line 1, No. 8) wear a blue tunic with red collar and gold lace (Austrian knot on the sleeve), blue trousers with red stripe, helmet with brass plate and ball ornament, waist-belt and pouch-belt (white for men, gold for officers). The badge is either a grenade or a device of a field gun on its carriage.
Royal Engineers (Plate II., line 2, No.5).—Scarlet tunic with garter, blue cuffs and collar, yellow shoulder-cords and piping, blue trousers with red stripe, helmet with royal arms on plate, and spike. Waist-belt white for men, gold-laced russia leather for officers, who wear also a pouch-belt of russia leather with a wavy gold lion in the centre.
Army Service Corps (Plate II., line 2, No. 1).—Blue tunic with white facings and white piping. Helmet with ball and plate, trousers blue with double white stripe. Officers, gold belts. Royal Army Medical Corps, blue uniform with magenta facings; Army Veterinary Corps, blue with maroon facings; Army Pay Corps, blue with yellow facings; Army Ordnance Corps, blue with red facings. The West India Regiment (negroes) wear a red sleeveless jacket over a white smock, baggy dark blue trousers, and a round cap with white puggaree.
The distinguishing mark of the staff officer in full dress is the aiguillette and the cocked hat with upright or drooping plume; in undress and service dress the red gorget patches on the collar. The full-dress uniforms of a field marshal and a general officer are shown in Plate II., line 1, Nos. 5 and 6.
Badges of Rank.—All officers have twisted gold shoulder-cords (except FootGuards, who wear a blue cloth shoulder-strap with lace edges); on these cords badges of rank are worn as follows: 2nd lieutenant, lieutenant and captain, 1, 2 and 3 stars; major, crown; lieutenant-colonel, crown and star; colonel, crown and 2 stars; brigadier-general, crossed swords; generals, sword and baton crossed, and (major-general) star; (lieutenant-general), crown; (general), crown and star; field marshal, crossed batons in a laurel wreath with crown above. In service dress (khaki), however. the badges are worn in worsted on a slashed flap of the sleeve, coupled with rings of braid (1 for a 2nd lieutenant or lieutenant, 2 for a captain, &c.), Non-commissioned officers wear chevrons (point downwards) on the upper right arm; lance-corporal or acting bombardier,1; corporal,2; sergeant,3; colour sergeant, 3 chevrons and crossed colours; staff-sergeant, 4 chevrons. On the lower part of the left arm chevrons(point up) are worn as “good conduct” badges. A sergeant-major is dressed as an officer, except that he has a crown on the lower part of the right sleeve). There are also badges of proficiency such as crossed rifles for marksmen, a spur for rough-riders, a fleur-de-lys for scouts, &c.
Regimental Badges.—The grenade in various forms is worn by the Royal Artillery, the Grenadier Guards and the Fusilier regiments. The figure of Britannia was awarded to the (9th) Norfolk regiment for gallantry at Almanza, 1707. The White Horse of Hanover was given to some regiments for service against the Jacobites. The Lion of England was awarded by William III. to the King’s Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment for services against the troops of James II. The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment wear a Paschal Lamb, the badge of Catherine of Braganza, queen of Charles II. The Dragon of Wales figures among the badges of all the Welsh regiments. Several regiments wear a castle and key in memory of services at Gibraltar, others have a tiger for services in India and still more a sphinx for Egyptian campaigns. The most general of all badges—though not the most generally worn—is the “stripped” rose. Nearly all corps possess several badges, which are combined in various ways.
The special interest of these badges is that they are peculiar to the British army. Although a badge of the branch (infantry, cavalry, &c.) is common, no other army wears distinctive regimental devices.
A few details of general practice may be added. All cavalry wear a pouch-belt over the left shoulder. The crimson infantry sash is worn by officers round the waist and by sergeants across the body and over the right shoulder. All officers and sergeants who do not wear the sash, to whatever branch they belong, have a pouch-belt, the pattern of course varying. Ankle boots (and sometimes leggings with them) are worn by dismounted men. Swords, except in the case of Scottish infantry, are worn suspended by slings from a belt (the belt in infantry, rifles and hussars being worn under the tunic or sash). On foreign service the uniform is varied according to circumstances, the most usual change being from the full dress head-dress to the white helmet.
The full dress of the territorial army varies greatly, sometimes conforming exactly to the uniform of the corresponding regular units, sometimes keeping to its original “Rifle” character in grey or green of various shades. The latter conform to the rules of the dress of “Rifles” (e.g. wear pouch-belts instead of sashes), and the former, though in many cases the silver lace and ornaments of the old volunteer force are retained, to those for the regulars, the distinguishing mark in all cases being the letter “T” on the shoulder or collar. The yeomanry cavalry is variously attired, some old regiments possessing rich old-fashioned hussar uniforms, others of recent formation wearing “service” colours only. Some regiments are dressed as dragoons, but the great majority are hussars. The infantry and artillery of the Honourable Artillery Company of London are dressed somewhat after the fashion of the Grenadier Guards and the Royal Horse Artillery.
Undress Uniforms.—In “walking-out” order most troops wear the tunic, Household Cavalry and Dragoons with waist-belts and sword-slings, lancers with girdle (R.F.A. and Army Service Corps also wear girdles in walking-out order), infantry and all other branches except hussars with waist-belt. Sergeants of infantry wear the sash and side-arms, the latter privilege being accorded also to corporals of the guards regiments. White gloves are worn by sergeants. Since the general introduction of khaki service dress, undress uniforms of red, blue, &c., have mostly disappeared, but the blue serge “jumper” is still retained. Officers of infantry (except in hussars and Rifles) have undress frock coats of various patterns. With these the “Sam Browne” equipment brown leather waist-belt, frog and the sash and slings are worn, but with the jumper and service frock, braces. Field officers have an edging of braid on the peak of the undress caps, staff and general officers an oak-leaf design.
Service Dress.—This, since the conclusion of the Boer War, is universally khaki Serge, of shooting-coat pattern, with a spinal pleat and four large pockets; all buttons and badges are in bronze. It has a double collar. A peaked cap, breeches or trousers, and puttees of the same colour are worn with it. The universal pattern greatcoat and Macintosh are also khaki coloured. The guards and staff officers, however, wear a light grey overcoat.
Mess Dress, for officers, after undergoing various modifications, now almost universally consists of a jacket with roll collar, waistcoat, and overalls and patent leather Wellington boots, the colours following in the main those of the full dress.
It remains to mention a few of the many regimental distinctions, trifling in themselves yet of the greatest importance as fostering regimental pride and as recalling specially gallant services in the old wars. The officers of the 7th Hussars and the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry wear linen collars with their undress uniforms. The Royal Welsh Fusiliers have a bow of black velvet (called a “flash,” this being an obsolete slang Word for “wig”) sewn to the back of the collar—a survival of the old-fashioned method of tying the hair in a club queue. The officers of certain regiments, in memory of severe losses, wear a black line in their gold lace. To commemorate Culloden the sergeants of the Somersetshire Light Infantry wear their sashes over the left shoulder as officers used to do. Until after the South African War the only fusilier regiment that wore plumed busbies was the Northumberland Fusiliers; now, however, all fusiliers wear a hackle (in the order of regiments shown in the ​table: red and white; white; primrose; white; white; grey; green; white and green; blue and green). The (28th) Gloucestershire regiment wears two badges on the helmet, to commemorate its having fought facing both ways, ranks back to back, at Alexandria in 1801.
Indian Native Army.—The uniforms of the Indian army vary infinitely in details, owing to the different methods of tying the turban, &c., practised by different Castes and tribes, and to the strictly regimental system of clothing and equipping the soldier. But the infantry, except the Gurkha Rifles, have tunics of similar pattern, viz. long skirted, without collars, and (if scarlet) with round cuffs, flaps and broad edgings on the front of the tunic of the facings colour. The trousers are dark blue and wide, and spats are worn with them (Plate III., line 3, No. 4). Gurkhas (Plate III., line 3, No. 5) are dressed as Rifles, except that their head-dress is a round cap. The pattern of cavalry uniform, which is generally followed whatever the colours and regimental distinctions, is shown on Plate III., line 3, No. 3.
In the main the dress of the native cavalry is dark blue. Five of the regiments wear red, the three Madras corps French grey, the Hyderabad and one other green, and only three drab. One regiment, the 1st, wears a yellow uniform, being perhaps the only one so clothed in the world.
Native artillery units wear blue with red facings, native engineer units, red with blue facings. The Queen’s Own Corps of Guides wears drab with red facings.
The greater part of the infantry wears, in full dress, scarlet, the various facings following no discoverable system, although certain groups of regiments have a regular colour scheme. A large number of regiments are clothed in drab, and there are Gurkha and other rifles in green; the remarkable Baluchi uniforms (green and drab with baggy red trousers) are unique in the British Empire.
The regiments of the Australian Commonwealth, with certain exceptions, wear khaki or drab with white facings and emu plume in the cavalry and green facings in the infantry. The same principle is carried out in other services, the intelligence corps having pale blue, the signal corps royal purple, the medical chocolate and the veterinary maroon facings. The artillery, engineers and army service corps are dressed as the corresponding branches of the home army. All the Canadian forces are uniformed very similarly to the British army. The 6th Dragoon Guards and the 13th Hussars are the models for the cavalry, and line, rifle, highland and fusilier uniforms are all represented, the dark rifle uniform predominating. In South Africa, as in Australia, khaki has become almost universal.
France
The Revolutionary simplification of the varied uniforms of the Ancien Regime has endured to the present day. Even in the various waves of flamboyant military fashions they have remained simple in the sense that all troops of an arm or branch were dressed practically alike, with none of the regimental differences that England, deferring to tradition, and Germany, systematizing the ordre de bataille to the last detail, preserved and introduced.
The line infantry wears a single-breasted blue tunic with red collar, a small red flap on the cuff, red epaulettes and gold buttons. The number of the regiment appears on a blue collar patch. The cap is a madder-red képi, with blue band, brass grenade, tricolour cockade and a ball. The trousers are loose, madder-red, and worn either with shoes and gaiters or with high ankle boots. The men usually march in the blue double-breasted greatcoat, under which is worn the plain veste (Plate III., line 2, No. 1). With this is worn a képi without ornaments and having the number in front. The officers wear a tunic of a different blue, almost black; otherwise, except for rank badges, it is similar to the men’s; epaulettes and braid, gold. The officers’ full dress képi has a golden ball and the trousers have a black stripe (Plate III., line 1, No. 1).
The chasseur battalions (Plate III., line 2, No. 2) wear the same pattern of tunic as the line, but the collar and cuffs are self-coloured, the epaulettes green, the trousers grey-blue with yellow piping, képi dark blue with yellow edgings and green ball, buttons, &c., silver. Chasseur officers are dressed as the men (with the usual officer’s blue-black tunic), but have a drooping green plume. The Alpine battalions wear a plain dark blue jumper and soft cap (béret) or tam-o’-shanter. Under the jumper, which is usually half-open, they wear a light blue shawl round the waist. The trousers are wide, dark blue knickerbockers, and puttees are worn with them.
The Zouaves (Plate III., line 1, No. 8) wear dark blue red-trimmed jackets and waistcoats, with a light blue cummerbund, baggy red trousers with blue piping and dark blue or white spats. The head-dress is a red tasselled cap (chéchia). The “false pockets” round which the braid circles on the front of the jacket are red for the 1st, white for the 2nd, yellow for the 3rd and blue for the 4th Zouaves. Zouave officers have the ordinary officer’s tunic, with blue-black collar and gold ornaments, but wear it unbuttoned (showing a red cummerbund) and without epaulettes. The cuff is pointed and slit almost to the elbow, the edges of the slit being gold laced according to rank and having a scarlet lining. Only the service képi is worn. The red trousers have the usual black stripe, and are cut very wide.
The Turcos are dressed similarly to the Zouaves, but with light blue jackets and waistcoats, light blue or white trousers, red cummerbund and yellow braid; the four regiments are distinguished among themselves in the same way as the four Zouave units. Their officers have a light blue tunic with yellow collar, Zouave cuff, red trousers with light blue stripe; képi red, with light blue band.
The Foreign Legion is dressed as line infantry, with certain minor distinctions. The colonial (formerly marine) infantry wears a double-breasted tunic with gold buttons, blue grey trousers and dark blue képi with red piping, plain collar and cuffs. The full dress cap badge is an anchor.
Cavalry.—Cuirassiers (Plate III., line 1, No. 3) wear dark blue tunics with red collars and cuff-flaps. silver ornaments and steel cuirasses, steel helmet with brass ornaments, black horsehair tail, red “shaving-brush" at the front of this tail and another shaving-brush, of colour varying with the squadron, &c., on the left side of the helmet. The trousers are red (officers with dark blue stripes, men with blue piping). The number is borne on a blue collar patch. The officers wear silver, the men red, epaulettes. Undress cap as infantry, silver-laced for officers.
Dragoons wear blue tunics (the black-braided “dolman," shown on Plate III., line 1, No. 6, is gradually passing out of the service) with white collars and cuff-flaps, silver buttons, &c., helmet as for cuirassiers, but without the “shaving-brush” at the front of the horsehair tail, trousers red with dark blue stripe. The men wear shoulder-cords instead of epaulettes, and the officers only wear their silver epaulettes on ceremonial duties. The number appears on a blue collar patch. Undress cap as for cuirassiers.
Chasseurs à cheval (Plate III., line 1, No. 7) wear a light blue tunic or dolman (the latter black-braided) with silver buttons, red collars and cuff-flaps. The trousers are red with light blue piping (two broad and one narrow light blue stripes between for officers). The full dress head-dress is a light blue shako, with dark green plume in full dress, coloured ball in other orders. The badge on the shako is a brass bugle. The képi is red with light blue band and piping (silver braid for officers). Number on the collar.
Hussars are dressed as chasseurs à cheval, but with white braiding on the dolman instead of black, and self-coloured collar. The badge on the shako is an Austrian knot.
The Chasseurs d’ Afrique wear the half-open veste, which is light blue with yellow collar and edgings. The cuff is slit in the Zouave style, the visible lining being yellow. A red cummerbund is worn. The shako is almost invariably worn with a white cover and neck curtain. The trousers are red. Officers as the corresponding chasseur officers in France, but with yellow instead of red collars, &c.
The native Algerian cavalry, the Spahis, wear national costume red jacket with black braiding, red cummerbund, light blue wide trousers, and red morocco boots. Above this they wear a flowing red mantle of thick cloth, and over this mantle the ample white burnous, which covers the head and shoulders. Their French officers wear a red tunic, with self-coloured collar and cuffs, gold buttons and epaulettes, number with crescent in gold on the collar, gold rings on cuff according to rank, trousers as for the hussars, &c., in France.
Artillery.—The rank and file wear blue tunics or dolmans (more usually, however, the veste). The dolman has black braiding but a red shoulder-cord, and has red collar, with black patch and number, and red pointed cuffs; buttons, &c., gold. The trousers are dark blue, with two broad and one narrow red stripe. The képi is dark blue, with dark blue band and red ornaments, the full dress cap having a badge, in red, of crossed guns and grenade. Artillery officers wear a black-braided dolman (blue-black) with gold shoulder-cord and Austrian knot. Their képi has the artillery badge in brass, gold braid, and a red plume. Plate III., line 1, No. 5 shows an artillery officer serving on the general staff.
Engineers, dark blue tunic with gold buttons, black red-edged collar patches bearing the number in red, black red-edged flap on cuffs; red epaulettes, trousers and képi as for artillery. Engineer officers have the same tunic as infantry, without facings, and the engineer badge (a cuirass and helmet) on the full dress képi.
Train (Army Service Corps), blue-grey dolman, black-braided, with red collar, black braid on the cuff, and red shoulder-cord; infantry képi, officers as officers of the chasseurs à cheval but with (silver) Austrian knot on the sleeve, and red plume. Medical officers have dark blue dolman, red trousers with black stripe, and red collars and cuffs. Their distinctive marks are a whole red képi (with gold braid), a white armlet with the red cross, Aesculapius’ staff on the collar, gold-laced shoulder-strap, and a curious pouch-belt which is entirely wrapped in a red cloth cover that buttons over it.
Generals wear in full dress the uniform shown in Plate III., line 1, No. 4, with some distinctions of rank. In undress they Wear a dark blue jacket with black braiding, the black Austrian knot on the sleeve carrying the silver stars of rank; trousers red with black stripe; képi red, with a blue band covered by gold, oak leaf lace. General staff officers (see Plate III., line 1, No. 5) wear their regimental uniform, with gold or silver aiguillettes, and on the collar, instead of the regimental number, the thunderbolt badge of the staff, the badge or number being removed also from the képi. Their special distinctions are the armlet and the plume, which vary according to the staff to which the officer belongs.
Badges of Rank.—General officers (on the epaulette or on the Austrian knot), one silver star for general of brigade, two for general of division. Other officers (rings on the cuff and képi band, or ​strands of braid on the Austrian knot), 1 for sub-lieutenant, 2 for lieutenant, 3 for captain, 4 for commandant, 5 (3 gold and 2 silver) for lieutenant-colonel, 5 for colonel (Plate III., line 1, figs. 1 and 5). Epaulettes: sub-lieutenant, 1 with fringe on right shoulder and 1 scale on left; lieutenant, fringed on left and scale on right shoulder; captain, both fringed; commandant, as sub-lieutenant but with thicker fringe; lieutenant-colonel and colonel, both with thick fringes (in the case of the lieutenant-colonel the body is silver). The vertical braids of the képi also vary according to rank. Field officers as a rule wear in full dress “shaving brush” plumes instead of a ball.
Under-Officers.—The badge is a stripe crossing the lower half of the sleeve diagonally; lance-corporals 1, corporals 2 worsted stripes; sergeants 1, sergeant-majors 2 gold or silver stripes. The “adjutant,” who corresponds to the British sergeant-major, has a ring of lace, like an officer’s, but narrower.
Germany
The infantry of the Prussian Guard wear single-breasted dark Prussian blue tunics with red piping on front and skirt flaps, or gold buttons (1st and 5th Foot Guards and Guard Fusiliers silver), white belts (3rd or “Fusilier” battalions and the Guard Fusiliers black), red collars and cuffs, spiked helmets with, in full dress, white plumes (Guard Fusiliers black). Guard distinctions throughout Germany take the form of “guard-stripes,” collar stripes of embroidery, and similar stripes forming false buttonholes round the buttons on the cuff, whether these are of the “Brandenburg” (plain flap with 3 buttons), “French” (slashed flap with 3 buttons), or “Swedish” (round cuff with buttons along the top edge) pattern.
The 1st to 4th Foot Guards have two guard-stripes on the collar, Swedish cuff with stripes, and white, red, yellow and light blue (the ordinary German indicative sequence) shoulder-straps. The Guard Fusiliers have the same uniform with yellow shoulder-straps and plume and belt as stated above. The 1st to 4th Grenadier Guards have double guard-stripes, red “Brandenburg” cuffs with blue flaps and embroidered stripes, shoulder-straps coloured in the same order as the Foot Guards. The 5th Foot Guards and 5th Grenadier Guards (of later formation) wear only a single guard-stripe; these return to white shoulder-straps in the sequence, and both have the blue flap and stripes. Service cap as in the line. For gala wear the 3rd battalion of the 1st Foot Guards, and all battalions of the 1st Grenadier Guards, wear the old mitre cap, once of cloth, but now become rigid and consisting of a metal front plate and a stiff red cap behind it.
The line infantry (other than Bavarians, Saxons, Württembergers, &c.) wear blue tunic with gold buttons, red piping, and red collar. The cuffs, also red, are of the “Brandenburg” pattern, plain round with a small red flap. The shoulder straps bear the number, or cipher. The head-dress is a small black leather helmet with brass Prussian eagle badge and spike. The trousers are dark grey with red piping, the equipment of black leather, the boots of Wellington pattern (the trousers being tucked into them). The greatcoat is grey with shoulder-straps as on tunic and a collar patch of the cuff-flap colour. The service cap is a round cap without peak, dark blue with red band and piping, and two cockades, “national” and “imperial.” Exceptions to these rules are: Prussian grenadiers (Nos. 1 to 12) wear black horsehair plumes and white belts, Mecklenburg grenadiers No. 89, Queen’s Fusiliers No. 86, Brunswick regiment No. 92, 145th Prussian regiment, black plumes.
The Prussian and quasi-Prussian portions of the army follow a clear rule as to the badge of the army corps. The infantry of each corps has shoulder-straps of uniform colour, and when a regiment changes its corps it changes its shoulder-strap. There is a further distinguishing mark on the cuff-flap:—
Except in regiments (such as the guards of the smaller states now numbered in the line of the army, and a few others) where the blue flap and guard-stripes are worn, the greater part of the Prussian regiments wear the historic red flap; but there came a time when the system of indicating regimental variations had to be expanded, and thereafter (from No. 145 inclusive onwards) red and white flaps were given alternately to new regiments, in such a way that there was one “white” regiment in each corps. The I. corps on the Russian frontier, being further reinforced, received one regiment with a yellow (150th) and one with a light blue flap (151st). “Guard” distinctions are worn by the Mecklenburg Grenadiers, No. 89, double guard-stripe on collar, blue cuff-flap with red piping and embroidery; by the 7th Prussian Grenadiers, single guard-stripe and blue flap with embroidery (edged with V. corps colour); by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 8th Prussian Grenadiers and by the 80th Fusiliers (formerly the elector of Hesse’s bodyguard), single guard-stripe and embroidery on the ordinary red cuff-flap.
The infantry of Hesse-Darmstadt, Württemberg and Baden are similarly uniformed to those of Prussia, the distinctions being easily described. The five “Grand Ducal Hessian” regiments (115–118 and 168) have not the corps (XVIII.) distinction, and have both shoulder-straps and cuff-flap of the same colour (red, white, light blue, yellow and red), the senior regiment, 115 (bodyguard regiment), having double guard-stripe on the collar and guard patches on the flap. A very marked distinction is in the buttons, which are invariably silver, and in the helmet badge, which is a lion rampant. The first three regiments wear a black plume.
Of the Württemberg infantry (XIII. corps), the 119th and 123rd regiments (guards) wear the double guard-stripe, and the “Swedish” cuff, also plumed helmets. The remainder have red shoulder-straps and red cuff-flaps edged with light blue, like the XV. army corps, and the only conspicuous distinction is the royal arms instead of the eagle on the helmet. The 120th also wears the grenadier plume.
Of the Baden regiments, the 109th and 110th (guards and grenadiers) have white plumes and white shoulder-straps, the 109th having the Swedish cuff with patches, the double guard stripe, and silver buttons. The remainder have yellow, red, light blue and green shoulder-straps; there is no edging to the flap. The only distinguishing mark for these is the Baden device (a griffin and a shield) on the helmet.
The Saxon infantry, though assimilated to the Prussian in most respects, is distinguished by various well-marked peculiarities. All shoulder-straps are self-coloured and edged with red. All Saxon regiments have either the “Swedish” or more usually the so-called “German” plain round cuff (red), with two buttons on back seam. The guard and grenadier regiments, 100th and 101st, have black plumes, double guard-stripes and “Swedish” cuffs. The helmet has an eight-pointed brass star. The 108th is a rifle regiment, and wears a green tunic with black red-edged collar and cuffs, dark grey trousers and a shako with black plume looped to one side in the Austrian fashion. The service cap of this corps is green with black piping and band. A peculiarity of the Saxons is that the bottom edges of the tunics are edged with red, as well as the front, and the skirt flaps are very short.
The Bavarian infantry has retained its historic light blue uniform, though in most details the Prussian model has been accepted. Tunic and trousers are light blue with red piping, red cuffs, collars and shoulder-straps. The Bavarian bodyguard regiment has red collar with double guard-stripe, red Swedish cuff with stripes, red shoulder-straps and silver buttons, but no plume. The line has gold buttons and appointments and “Brandenburg” cuffs, flaps edged according to the usual sequence (I. corps white, II. none, III. yellow). The service cap is light blue with red band and piping. Belts black.
Jägers and Schützen.—The Jäger uniform is bright green, with red collars, piping and Swedish cuffs (Prussian Guard, double guard-stripe and cuff-stripes), gold buttons, trousers as for line, and a small shako with drooping black plume. The Mecklenburg battalion No. 14, however, has light green collars, cuffs and shoulder-straps edged with red, and double guard-stripe and cuff-stripes. The Guard Schützen battalion (originally a French-speaking corps from Neuchatel) has black collars and cuffs, edged with red shoulder-straps, double guard-stripe and green red-edged “French” (i.e. slashed) cuff-flaps with stripes; and the Jäger battalions of the XII. and XVIII. corps have exactly the same uniform as the Saxon Schützen regiment already mentioned, silver buttons being substituted for gold. The Bavarian Jäger battalions have light blue uniforms with green facings, Swedish cuff, and shako. In all these the field cap is of the colour of the uniform, the band of the colour of the collar, the piping as on the tunic.
Cavalry.—The heavy cavalry consists of the Prussian Gardes du Corps and Guard Cuirassiers, the eight line cuirassier regiments, and the Saxon and Bavarian “heavy cavalry.” In most of these cuirasses of black or bright iron or of brass (with or without breast decorations), and even cuirass-shaped remnants of the old buff coat, in richly decorated leather, are worn on ceremonial occasions. The head-dress is a helmet of burgonet shape. The ordinary full dress of Prussian cuirassiers is a white long-skirted tunic (called a Koller) with white shoulder-straps and collars, edged along the collar and down the front (which is hooked, not buttoned) with broad braid (white, with lines of the regimental colour). The Swedish cuffs, edged with similar braid, are of the regimental colour, of which colour there is also a patch on the collar and piping round the shoulder-straps and back seams. In full dress white trousers, otherwise dark grey trousers with red piping, are worn. The undress tunic is dark blue of the ordinary buttoned pattern, but with braided cuffs, white shoulder-strap and collar-patch and braid as in full dress. The field cap is of the tunic colour with band of the regimental colour. The belts are white. High jack-boots are worn. The guard regiments have double guard-stripe and cuff-stripes.
The Saxon heavy cavalry wears light blue braided cuirassier tunics, with brass scales instead of shoulder-straps, white piping, brass helmets with the Saxon star device, Swedish cuffs cut gauntlet-wise, white or light blue trousers, light blue cap, and white belts. In the 1st Guard regiment the collar and cuffs are white, the braid light blue and white, the helmet ornament a silver lion, the cap-
black and white, helmet ornament a brass spike, cap-band black. The Bavarian heavy cavalry is dressed in dragoon fashion—light blue tunic, red facings, light blue collar edging, light blue trousers with red stripe, helmet with white plume. 1st regiment has silver buttons, the 2nd gold.
The line dragoon regiments, other than those of Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, Baden, Württemberg, and Grand Ducal Hesse (Saxony and Bavaria have no dragoons) wear light blue tunics with collars, shoulder-straps (with number), piping and cuffs of the regimental colour. The cuffs are Swedish. The trousers are blue-black without stripe. The helmet is black leather, very similar to the infantry helmet, with black horsehair plume. The regimental distinctions follow a regular scheme thus:—
The 17th and 18th (Mecklenburg) have respectively scarlet facings and gold buttons, and black facings with silver buttons. They have the double guard-stripe and cuff stripes. The 19th (Oldenburg) have the ordinary uniform with black facings and silver buttons, but white shoulder-straps.
The Baden regiments (20, 21 and 22) have light blue uniforms with scarlet, yellow and black facings, light blue, light blue and red edgings, and silver buttons. They have white plumes instead of black, and the Baden device on the helmet. The Hessian regiments (23 and 24) have dark green tunics; the 23rd have double guard-stripe, cuff stripes and scarlet facings; the 24th the ordinary tunic with white facings, and both silver buttons. The Württembergers (25 and 26) have white and yellow facings respectively, collar edging light blue, buttons gold and silver respectively; the 25th regiment has double guard-stripe and cuff stripes, and white plume. Belts are white throughout, except in the Hessian units, which have black.
The Prussian Guard Dragoons have light blue uniforms and red facings, double guard-stripes, and cuff stripes. Buttons gold in the 1st, silver in the 2nd. White plumes.
The uniforms of the eight Bavarian regiments of Chevaulegers resemble those of dragoons. They wear the black dragoon helmet and white plumes, dark green tunics, trousers and undress cap, and white belts. They also have the dragoon cuffs. But they have the double-breasted lancer tunic with front and piping of the regimental colour; crimson 1st and 2nd; pink 3rd and 6th; scarlet 4th and 5th; white 7th and 8th; the first of each pair having gold, the second silver ornaments.
The Lancers (Ulanen) wear the usual lancer uniform of czapka, double-breasted tunic with plastron, and girdle. The trousers are dark grey, the plume white. The girdle is of the uniform colour edged with the facings colour. The cuff is the so-called “Polish,” a round, slightly pointed cuff with a button (and where appropriate a guard-stripe) in the middle of the pointed portion. The collar is edged with the uniform colour. Regimental distinctions in the line are as shown in table at the top of next column.
Guard Ulans: dark blue tunic with double guard-stripe and cuff stripes, and dark grey trousers; 1st, red facings, and piping, white turnback (piped red), white czapka; 2nd, scarlet facings and czapka; 3rd, yellow facings and czapka.
17th, 18th and 21st (Saxon), light blue tunics and trousers, crimson facings, double guard-stripes and cuff stripes, brass scales, white piping. Czapkas white, crimson, light blue. Undress caps white. 19th and 20th (Württemberg). dark blue uniforms, dark grey trousers, facings and czapkas scarlet in 19th, yellow in 20th. 19th double guard-stripe and cuff stripe. Ornaments silver. 1st and 2nd Bavarian Ulans, dark green tunics and trousers, crimson facings and czapkas, white belts instead of girdles; 1st gold, 2nd silver ornaments.
* These two regiments have white piping.
The Hussars are very richly dressed, many having the slung pelisse. The front cuffs, back seams and collar are braided. The busby is low and slightly conical, the busby-bag hanging over towards the back on the left side. On the front of the busby are various decorations. Round the waist is a white girdle intertwined with the colours of the state to which the regiment belongs. A plain shoulder cord is worn. The trousers are dark grey with lace stripe. The Hessian boots have embroidered top and boss. The five senior regiments preserve the unusual colours indicative of their irregular origin. The remainder are clothed in dark and light blue, or green. All wear a white (gold or silver officers) pouch-belt, white plumes. The undress cap is of the colour of the tunic, with various bands.
The 17th Brunswick Hussars, preserving the memory of the Black Brunswickers of the Napoleonic wars, have black uniforms (no pelisse), with gold lace and red busby-bag. The 18th and 19th (Saxon) Hussars have light blue tunics and trousers (no pelisse), with gold and silver lace and red and crimson busby-bags respectively. No information is available as to the 20th Hussars, formed in November 1910.
The Jägers zu Pferd (mounted rifles) have a green-grey tunic and trousers of cuirassier cut, with green collars, Swedish cuffs, shoulder-straps, and piping, green-grey cap, brown belts and a black helmet of cuirassier pattern. The buttons are silver. The broad cuirassier braid on collar, front and cuffs is green, with white lines in the 1st, red in the 2nd, yellow 3rd, light blue 4th (the normal sequence), black 5th. The edgings of the shoulder-straps are similarly white, red, &c. The “staff orderlies” wear the same uniform, with certain deviations, in particular yellow and green braid, gold buttons, and white undress cap.
The machine gun detachments wear a grey uniform with red Swedish cuffs (guard-stripes and cuff stripes in the Guard corps), collar, shoulder-strap and piping. The head-dress is the Jäger shako, and the whole uniform is of Jäger type, so much so that the 2nd Guard detachment has the black collar and “French” cuff of the Gardeschützen.
The field artillery has the dark blue tunic with red piping, black collar and Swedish cuffs, gold appointments, and dark grey trousers without stripe. The helmet has a ball ornament. The cap is blue with black band. The Guard regiments have double guard-stripes and cuff stripes and a white plume—shoulder-straps, white for 1st, red for 2nd, yellow for 3rd, light blue for 4th regiment. In the field artillery at large the shoulder-straps are of the corps colour. ​The Bavarian, two Württemberg, one Baden and two Hessian regiments have white or black (Bavarians red) plumes, otherwise as for a “red” Prussian corps. The Mecklenburg artillery has silver buttons. The Saxon field artillery uniform is altogether different, consisting of green tunics with red collars and Swedish cuffs, gold appointments, red edgings, and black plume (horse artillery have a brass scale). Prussian and Bavarian field artillery have white belts, others black.
The foot artillery, which has white shoulder-straps, is distinguished from the field by the black Brandenburg cuff with plain blue flap (Guard Swedish cuff, guard-stripes, &c.) and by a red trouser piping. The Saxon foot artillery is distinguished from the field by the ball ornament instead of plume, and the “German” cuff. Belts black (Guard and Bavarians white). Bavarian foot artillery as Prussian, but with a spiked helmet and black cuff-flap, red-edged.
The pioneers have the same uniform as artillery, but with silver buttons and appointments. The shoulder-straps are red, the helmet is spiked (Guards, black plume). The cuffs are black, red-edged, Swedish. Saxon pioneers as field artillery, but with “German” cuff. The “communication troops” wear similar uniforms with special badges, some having the Jäger shako. The Train (army service corps) has dark blue dragoon uniforms with light blue facings and black plumes; Saxons, however, have light blue with black facings. Medical officers and hospital corps wear blue uniforms with blue collars and cuffs and red edgings; stretcher bearers, &c., blue with magenta facings and silver buttons, &c.
Rank Badges (a).—Non-commissioned officers: lance-corporal a button on each side of the collar. Corporals and sergeants gold or silver lace on the collar and cuffs, small patches of the national colours on the collar patches of the greatcoat. Sergeants are distinguished from corporals by a button to the collar. There are numerous minor distinctions on the sword knots, lance pennons, hussar girdles, &c. Sergeant-majors have a narrow ring of lace on the cuff in addition to the broad under-officer’s ring; and on the greatcoat patch two small national patches. Aspirant officers wear the uniform of their non-commissioned rank with some of the officer’s distinctions. (b) Officers: The distinctive mark of the commissioned officer is the shoulder-piece (epaulette or cord). The epaulette is almost always silver and is worn as a “scale,” i.e. without fringe, by captains and subalterns, with a fine fringe by field officers and with a thick fringe by general officers. The ranks within each class are distinguished by small stars on the circle of the epaulette, lieutenant, major, and major-general, no star; first lieutenant, lieutenant-colonel and lieutenant-general, one Star; captain, colonel and general, two stars. A colonel-general has three stars and a field-marshal crossed batons. The number or cipher is also worn by all regimental officers. The body of the epaulette is usually of the same colour as the shoulder-strap of the rank and file. The shoulder cord for captains and subalterns is made up of straight strips of silver lace, that for field officers is of twisted silver cords, that of general officers is composed of two gold cords and one of silver and colours intertwined. In all these, lines of the national colours are interwoven with the silver. Badges, numbers, &c., as on the epaulette. A silver waist-sash (staff officers and adjutants shoulder-sash) is worn by all combatant officers (except hussars, who have girdles). An interesting survival of earlier uniforms is found in the full dress of general officers. The tunic buttons below the waist, and while on the left shoulder there is only a narrow silver cord, on the right the thick cord of gold, silver and coloured silks is extended to form an aiguillette. The aiguillette is also worn on the right shoulder by staff officers and some others. A universal custom, which is also a survival, is for all ranks to wear sword-knots, even with the bayonet.
The new service dress is a loose-fitting “field-grey” uniform, except in Jägers, machine-gun detachments and Jägers zu Pferd, who wear grey-green field dress.
Austria-Hungary
The infantry uniforms, since the abandonment of the historic white after 1866, have been of a very quiet shade of dark blue, and the facings colours are more varied than those of any other army. The “German,” that is Austrian, infantry wears in full dress a dark blue single-breasted tunic, light blue trousers, and a black leather shako with double eagle and a metal ball ornament. The equipment is black. On the shoulders are straps terminating in rolls or “wings,” all of the regimental colour, as are the collar and the (“German”) cuffs. In marching or service dress the tunic is replaced by a hooked jacket or blouse with plain cuffs, no shoulder-straps, and only collar patches of the regimental colour. The trousers are turned up over or tucked into a high ankle boot. The field cap is of cloth, cylindrical, with flaps buttoning in front. Hungarian infantry wears the same tunic but has a silver or white embroidered device in front of the cuff. The trousers are tight pantaloons, with a yellow piping and “Austrian”—really Hungarian—knots. Officers of infantry have no shoulder cords or straps. The full dress shako and the collar are ornamented with braid or lace according to rank. A yellow waist-sash is worn. Hungarian officers are dressed as Austrian except for the tunic cuff ornament. In other respects both the tunic and the blouse are similar to the men’s. Jägers wear a broad-brimmed felt hat with cock’s feather plume on the left. The tunic, trousers and cap are green-grey; the buttons gold; cuffs, collar, shoulder ornament and piping in full dress, and collar patch and piping in undress, green. Officers wear the waist-sash and double green stripes on the trousers. All officers in undress wear plain dark grey trousers and dark grey cylindrical cloth cap, both in the line and the Jägers.
Dragoons wear light blue jackets with collar and cuffs of regimental colour and narrow white or gold shoulder cord, red trousers, black crested helmets (gilded crests for officers), and slung pelisse exactly similar to the jacket except that the collar and cuffs are of black fur. The jacket is not merely an ornament, but is frequently worn, serving as a tunic. The field cap of the rank and file is red, shaped as for infantry, but without peak. Belts brown. The facings are—dark red 1st and 3rd, black 2nd and 6th, grass green 4th and 9th, imperial yellow 5th and 12th, sulphur yellow 7th and 10th, scarlet 8th and 11th, madder red 13th and 14th, white 15th. Silver buttons 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 13; gold 3, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15.
Hussars wear dark or light blue jackets and pelisses, the former braided, the latter braided and edged with black fur. The trousers are red with gold “Austrian” knots and piping (all hussars are Hungarian) and the boots have the usual hussar braid. The headdress is a shako with black “shaving-brush” plume. Regimental distinctions are as follows:—
Lancers (Uhlans, who do not carry lances) wear the lancer cap (czapka) with black plume looped back, and old ornaments, light blue double-breasted lancer tunics (slung on the shoulder as pelisses) with madder red cuffs and piping—but no “plastron”—black for collar and gold shoulder cord. The jacket is plain, light blue, with breast and skirt pockets and flaps edged red, red collar and cuffs, no shoulder cord. The trousers are red. Regimental distinctions—top of the czapka, imperial yellow 1st and 6th, dark green 2nd and 7th, madder 3rd and 8th, white 4th, light blue 5th, cherry 11th, dark blue 12th and 13th. Gold buttons 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 12th; silver 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th and 13th.
All cavalry officers wear gold or silver pouch-belts; in undress dark grey trousers and cap are worn. Men’s undress cap as for dragoons. All cavalry men carry the carbine slung and have brown belts.
Artillery wear maroon tunics, light blue trousers, red collars, cuffs, shoulder-straps and wings, light blue cap, shako with black plume looped back. Fortress artillery have a red stripe in the trousers, technical artillery are dressed as field, but with dark grey trousers and cap and without plume. Buttons gold. On the jacket the whole collar is red. Officers wear pouch-belts as cavalry, and in undress the usual grey trousers and cap.
Engineers have an infantry uniform, but in the Jäger colours, grey and green. Train (A.S.C.) as artillery, but with light blue facings and red trousers with cap. Their shako has no plume.
and piped all round with red. The collar and cuffs are red (cuffs black for general staff), buttons and lace usually gold. The trousers are dark grey, piped red (in some cases with stripes of yellow and red). The general staff wears the waist-sash; the adjutant-general’s branch, aides-de-camp, &c., the same sash over the shoulder (as indeed all adjutants wear it in Germany and Austria). The cocked hat is small and has a green feather plume. General officers ordinarily wear dark grey trousers with double red stripe, pearl-grey tunics, cocked hats and waist-sash; their collars and cuffs are red. Inspector-generals of artillery and engineers wear the colours of their arm (brown and jager grey). In court dress, however, Austrian generals wear the old white tunic and red, gold-laced trousers; Hungarian generals an elaborate red hussar dress, with a white pelisse.
Rank is shown by stars and lace on the collar. Lance-corporal, corporal and sergeant have 1, 2 and 3 worsted stars; second lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain 1, 2, and 3 gold or silver stars; major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel 1, 2 and 3 stars on a gold-laced collar; major-general, lieutenant field-marshal and general (or Feldzeugmeister) 1, 2 or 3 stars on laced collar.
Russia
The figures in Plate III. represent the uniforms of 1905. Since that time the attempt to combine bright colours with the looseness and comfort of service dress has been abandoned, and the troops have received a more handsome full dress and a grey-green field dress. Little information as to the details of the new uniforms has been published. The ordinary infantry uniform was a double-breasted hooked tunic of dark green cloth, dark green trousers and cap (in full dress a round fur cap). With a few exceptions, details of facings, &c., followed well-marked rules. The number of the regiment appeared on the cap, that of the division on the shoulder-strap. The two regiments of the 1st brigade in each division wore red shoulder-straps, the two of the 2nd brigade blue. The 1st regiment had a red cap band and red collar patches, the 2nd blue, the 3rd white and the 4th green. It is not known how far this has been modified of late years. Regiments with royal colonels-in-chief wear ciphers on the shoulder-strap, and some have double guard-stripes on the collar. In winter a heavy grey-brown greatcoat is worn, usually with a loose sheepskin lining and a fur-lined hood. The grenadiers are distinguished by yellow shoulder-straps (with a narrow edging of red, blue, white and yellow, according to the division). The Guards wear closely fitting tunics, with guard-stripes on the collars and cuff-flaps. In the 1st Guard division the shoulder-straps and piping are red and white, in the 2nd red and red, in the 3rd yellow and yellow respectively. The cuff-flaps are red in 1st, and 2nd, yellow in 3rd division. The colour of the collars and cuffs varies according to the order of regiment within the division. The Pavlovsky regiment wears, instead of the fur cap, the old mitre-cap in brass and stiff red cloth.
Rifles wear the universal pattern uniform with plain cap-band and collar and crimson shoulder-straps. The Finland rifles have light blue instead of crimson, and the Guard rifles have double guard-stripes and stripes on the cuff-flap (or Swedish cuff).
Line dragoons wear a dark green silver or gold buttoned tunic, double-breasted, grey-blue trousers and knee boots. The cap, which was peaked, and had a dark green band, was, in 1905, red for the 1st, blue for the 2nd, and white for the 3rd regiment of each division, the same colours appearing on the collar patches, piping and shoulder-straps. The regimental number (or colonel-in-chief’s cipher) appears on the shoulder-strap. The fur cap is in shape a truncated cone, the body of the cap being of the colour of the facings and the sides of fur. A few regiments had special distinctions.
The cuirassiers (guards) wear in full dress white cuirassier uniforms with brass helmets and eagles, and in field order dark green tunics and white caps. The trousers are grey-blue with red stripe. The Horse Grenadiers wear dark green lancer tunic with red facings, double guard-stripe and cuff-stripe, red girdles and dark grey trousers with red stripes. They wear epaulettes and the curious grenadier cap mentioned above. The Guard Dragoons are dressed as the Horse Grenadiers, but with the dragoon busby and red shoulder-straps. The Guard Lancers wear a lancer uniform resembling the German, blue with scarlet facings, lancer caps and grey-blue trousers. The top of the czapka is scarlet and yellow for the respective regiments. The Emperor’s Hussars wear scarlet tunics and blue trousers, and the Grodno Hussars dark green tunics and crimson trousers (see Plate III., line 2, No. 7), with busby, red busby-bag and white plume; girdles scarlet and blue and green and white, and braid yellow and white respectively.
The artillery tunic, trousers and cap are dark green, the piping and shoulder-strap red. The Guard Artillery has black collar and cuffs, red-edged. The engineers are distinguished from artillery by their having silver buttons and appointments instead of gold.
The greater part of the Cossacks wear a long, loose caftan. This, in the Don, Ural and Astrakhan contingents is dark blue, in the rest, except as mentioned below, dark green. Cossacks Wear no spurs, but use a whip. As for the facings, the Don regiments have plain, and the other blue regiments crimson and yellow shoulder-straps respectively, and the green regiments have red, yellow or light blue. The head-dress is a conical lambskin cap, with cloth top, or a blue or green cap with band of the regimental colour. The Caucasus regiments, however, wear a more distinctly national uniform, consisting of a dark brown, collarless caftan, cut away below the throat to show a waistcoat, scarlet for Kuban and blue for Terek regiments (Plate III., line 2, No. 6). The shoulder-straps are of the colour of this waistcoat. The Caucasus regiments always wear the full headdress and never the field cap. The Guard Cossacks have short tunics (scarlet, light blue and dark red) with guard-stripes on collar and cuffs, and caps of the same colours. These wear spurs besides carrying whips. The Cossacks of the tsar’s escort wear a scarlet caftan edged with gold braid, white waistcoat and dark blue trousers. The Cossack artillery wears green uniforms of Cossack cut, with red facings.
Badges of rank are as follows: Non-commissioned officers, one, two or three stripes of braid across the shoulder-strap; sergeant-major, a stripe of gold lace across the shoulder-strap. In and above the rank of corporal, gold lace is worn on the collar and cuffs as in Germany. Officers wear broad cloth (red, blue, &c.) shoulder-straps nearly covered by strips of silver or gold lace; on these appear the number or cipher and stars of rank—subalterns one, two and three, second captains four and senior captains none. In these ranks the cloth of the shoulder-strap shows in one narrow strip through the lace. In the field ranks, the cloth, covered by three bars of lace, shows two strips and the same sequence is followed: lieutenant-colonel, three stars; colonel, none. In general officers’ uniforms the lace entirely covers the cloth, and the stars number two for a major-general, three for lieutenant-general and none for a full general.
Italy
The universal colour in full dress and undress coats is a dark, flat blue, faintly tinged with purple. Generals, cavalry and infantry (except Bersaglieri) wear blue-grey trousers and silver ornaments; staff officers, artillery and engineers dark blue trousers and gold ornaments.
The coat, whether tunic or frock, has a stand and fall collar, on the corners of which invariably figures a five-pointed silver or white star. The cuffs are slightly pointed, except for cavalry. The full dress head-dress is a low cloth shako, the undress throughout a képi. Generals wear only the képi. The tunic, double-breasted for officers and single-breasted for rank and file, is cut very short, and has little piping. Officers have plain blue shoulder-straps with stars showing rank. A white collar is worn under the coat collar by all ranks. Officers have a blue frock, with black braid and plain cuffs.
Infantry have silver buttons and (rank and file) red-edged shoulder-straps and shoulder wings, blue-grey trousers with red piping (officers, double stripe). The shako is blue with red piping (officers, silver braid), silver device and cockade; the képi (in the rank and file pointed back and front and pressed down at the sides) is similar in colour, &c., to the men’s shako. The belts are black. The Grenadier brigade alone has red collars and cuffs, all others are self-coloured (red edge to cuff). The greatcoat is light blue-grey, single-breasted and unadorned except for shoulder wings. White or holland gaiters are worn with the blue uniform. The brigades are distinguished by gorget patches of the brigade colours, upon which the star is worn. Officers wear a shoulder sash of light blue, and in full dress silver epaulettes.
Cavalry.—Line cavalry have light coloured collars, cuffs and shoulder-strap edges, silver buttons, and blue-grey trousers with double back stripe (officers, of the facings colour). Regimental distinctions are given in the table. The full head-dress is a singularly handsome helmet, partly black, partly bright steel, with a tall swan-neck crest (see Plate IV., line 2, fig. 8) and on the front a broad white cross. The undress cap is a képi with piping as in table. On the men’s shoulder-straps is a silver grenade. The lancers (Lanzieri) have coat and trousers as line cavalry with regimental distinctions given below. On the men’s shoulder-straps are crossed lances. The head-dress is a fur cap, adorned with crossed lances and chain in silver. It has also a cockade and a small upright plume. The crossed lances appear also on the képi. The light horse (Cavallegieri) have a similar coat and trousers, except that the collar has a flame-shaped patch. Shoulder-strap, full headdress and képi as for lancers, with a bugle instead of lances. All cavalry have brown bandoliers over the left shoulder.
Artillery, gold buttons, dark blue trousers, with yellow piping (officers, double yellow stripe). Officers’ tunics have black yellow-edged collars and cuffs, men’s a black yellow-edged collar patch, and yellow edgings on the collars, shoulder-straps and cuff. The badge of the field artillery on shako, képi and men’s shoulder-straps is gold crossed guns; that of the horse and mountain, a gold grenade; fortress artillery are dressed practically as field. The shako has gold badge and short upright plume (horse artillery long black plume, looped back on the right side); the képi piping is yellow. Gold epaulettes and light blue sash are worn by officers, and in the horse artillery a pouch-belt as well. Engineers have the artillery uniform, but with red piping, &c. instead of yellow, and badge of crossed axes. The departmental corps wear, as a rule, black facings with light blue piping, differing amongst themselves in details.
The famous Bersaglieri (light infantry) have the infantry tunic and frock with gold buttons, &c. (officers in full dress, epaulettes), dark blue trousers with crimson stripe. Officers have crimson cuffs, all ranks a blue red-edged collar, with crimson flame patch. The distinctive feature is the dark, wide-brimmed, slouch hat with a ​large drooping cock’s feather plume. The Alpine infantry (Alpini) have a black felt hat with silver device and eagle feather, tunic, trousers and képi with green instead of red piping throughout. Officers wear black collar with green flame patch and green cuffs.
General officers have a single-breasted tunic with black velvet collar and cuffs laced with silver, red piping, silver shoulder-straps, and silver buttons. Frock, trousers, &c., as shown on Plate IV., line 2, No. 6. Staff officers wear light blue collar and cuffs, dark blue trousers with gold stripe and shako somewhat as for artillery officers. They wear the usual light blue shoulder sash, but over the left, instead of, as in the army at large, over the right shoulder.
The new service dress is blue-grey, regimental distinctions as on the officer’s frock and képi in all arms. Infantry equipment is shown on Plate IV., line 2, No. 9. The cavalry head-dress is a round grey helmet.
Rank Badges.—Non-commissioned officers: Red or silver chevrons above the cuff, and small distinctions on the shako. Officers: On the shoulder-strap, 1, 2 and 3 silver stars for subalterns and captains, the same with narrow silver edging round the strap for field officers, 1, 2 or 3 gold stars on a silver shoulder-strap for general officers; on the shako, silver or gold rings round the upper part, on the képi rings round the lower part of the cap, 1, 2 or 3 for company officers, 1 broader ring and 1, 2 or 3 for field officers. On the general’s képi there is a red, silver-embroidered band with 1, 2 or 3 rings above.
United States
The uniforms, though recent changes have largely deprived them of their character, still in some respects follow the French fashion upon which they were originally modelled. The helmet, worn until 1899, indeed showed no trace of French influence—it was simply a mere showy parade head-dress. The French képi, worn during and after the Civil War, has been abolished and replaced by a cap which, like the full-dress cap now worn, bears some resemblance to the japanese cap. But the long-skirted blue tunic, the general’s “chapeau,” the sergeant’s and corporal’s long pointed chevrons still survive to recall the old uniforms, and one or two of the innovations, the rank badges on the sleeve, are also French.
Infantry Officers.—Full dress: universal pattern tunic (dark blue, double-breasted with thick gold shoulder cord) with light blue, gold-laced collar, light blue trousers with white stripe, badges of rank and branch on sleeve. Universal pattern full-dress peaked cap (stiff blue cloth, gold-edged band, and eagle badge, with light blue band). Undress: universal pattern frock (dark blue, single-breasted, braided black and hooked; across the shoulder, flat loops edged with gold lace and bearing rank badges); shoulder loop light blue; plain collar with U.S. and branch badge in gold; trousers as in full dress. Sword belt under the frock, slings brown leather. Cap, of the same shape as full-dress cap but with plain black braid band. A white undress of similar pattern is worn in hot climates. Service dress (olive drab or light khaki). Coat, single-breasted, four pockets, stand and fall collar, bronze buttons and ornaments. Brown waistbelt and braces, somewhat similar to British “Sam Browne,” but with sword slings. Peaked cap, plain olive drab or khaki, with bronze eagle badge. Slouch hat, grey, with gold and black twisted cord.
Evening dress and mess dress: blue, with shoulder cords and rank-marks as in full dress, blue trousers. Greatcoat, universal pattern, khaki with horn buttons; rank-marks in black braid on the sleeve, branch badge in bronze.
Cavalry officers as infantry, but with yellow collar, cap-band and trousers stripes as full dress and branch badge.
Artillery officers as infantry, but with red collar, cap-band and trousers stripes, and branch badge.
Engineer officers as infantry, but branch badge, red ground with white edges on full-dress collar and cap. Full-dress trousers, dark blue with red, white-edged stripe; undress, light blue with red stripe. In full dress engineer officers have the special distinction of wearing red skirt-flaps with white line and gold edge. Signal Corps, as infantry, but with branch badge and salmon collar, capband, &c. Signal officers, alone in the army, wear a pouch-belt: this is of black leather—crimson leather for the chief of the corps—with gold appointments. Ordnance Corps, as infantry, but dark blue red-edged trousers stripes, &c., and branch badge. Medical, as infantry, but with magenta stripes, &c., and branch badge.
Generals and Staff Officers.—Major-generals (and with a third star lieutenant-generals), dark blue double-breasted tunic with buttons in threes, and cuffs and collar of black velvet ornamented with oak-leaf gold embroidery, above the cuffs two silver stars; gold epaulettes and aiguillette, wide yellow waist-sash; dark blue trousers with two gold stripes: slings, and waist-belt if worn, crimson leather with gold stripes. “Chapeau” or cocked hat (French pattern) black felt with black feather edging and gold ornament; full-dress cap, universal pattern, with black velvet band, embroidered on band and peak as on full-dress cuffs. Undress: blue frock, double-breasted, with buttons in threes, “stand and fall” collar with U.S. in gold; rank marks on shoulder loops; plain dark blue trousers, universal pattern undress caps with oak-leaves on the peak only. White undress uniform is similar. Brigadier-generals, as major-generals with the following distinctions: one star on the sleeve or shoulder-loop, narrow yellow sash, buttons in pairs, plain black strap instead of crimson waist-belt (with, however, crimson and gold slings). Service dress and overcoats (all general officers) universal pattern: on the slouch hat a gold cord instead of black and gold. Evening and mess dress, universal pattern, with cuffs, collar and epaulettes as in full dress. Certain general officers who are chiefs of departments wear some of the distinctions of their branch; thus the adjutant-general, the quartermaster-general, &c., wear the branch badge below the stars, the chief of engineers the scarlet engineer skirt flap, the chief of artillery a crimson waist-sash instead of yellow. In undress these officers have a ground of their branch colour instead of dark blue on the shoulder loops. Staff officers are in the main uniformed in the same way as those of infantry, but wear dark blue trousers (in full dress a gold stripe), black and gold belts and slings, branch badge on sleeve, and full-dress collars, full-dress cap-bands and undress shoulder loops of the branch colour.
Branch and Line Badges.—General staff, a silver star, decorated with eagle device; inspector-general’s department, sword and “fasces” crossed in wreath, gold; adjutant-general’s department. gold shield with U.S. arms; quartermaster-general’s department, sword and key crossed, surmounted by eagle, over a wheel, gold; ordnance, grenade; commissary or subsistence, silver crescent; infantry, gold crossed rifles; cavalry, gold crossed swords; artillery, gold crossed guns; engineers, silver castle; signal corps, crossed flags and torch; medical, winged Aesculapius staff. Aides-de-camp wear a shield like the adjutant-general’s but in red, white and blue enamel and surmounted by an eagle; adjutants, quartermasters, commissaries, &c., of the combatant arms wear a shield, sword and key, crescent, &c, under the guns, swords, &c, of the regiment or corps.
Branch and Arm Colours.—Infantry, light blue; cavalry, yellow; artillery, red; engineers, red with white edge; signal corps, salmon with white edge; quartermaster’s department, yellow ochre; ordnance, blue with crimson edge; other staffs and departments, light blue; medical, magenta; general staff, dark blue.
Badges of Rank.—Officers: general, lieutenant-general, major-general, brigadier-general, stars 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively, in all orders of dress. Other officers, in undress, silver on a shoulder loop of coloured cloth according to branch; colonel, spread eagle; lieutenant-colonel, pair of oak-leaf sprigs; major as lieutenant-colonel but in gold; captain, two pairs of bars; 1st lieutenant, one pair of bars; 2nd lieutenant, no badge: in full dress, evening dress and greatcoat, colonel fivefold, lieutenant-colonel fourfold, major threefold, captain twofold, 1st lieutenant single Austrian knot of narrow gold braid, 2nd lieutenant no Austrian knot. Field officers have black leather waist-belt and slings completely covered with gold braid, and also oak-leaf embroidery on the peak of the full-dress cap. Captains and lieutenants have similar belts, but with four gold braids only; in the infantry, cavalry, artillery and engineers the intervening spaces (“lights”) are coloured light blue, yellow, &c, while in other cases the black leather is allowed to appear.
​Enlisted men are dressed similarly to officers, with the following differences: tunic with dark blue cuffs, collar and shoulder-straps. The collar is edged top and bottom, the shoulder-straps all round and the cuffs along the top edge with yellow for cavalry, light blue for infantry, &c. The badge of the branch in brass is on the collar. Lines are worn (aiguillette fashion) as an additional decoration; these are of the branch colours. The trousers are light blue, with, in full dress, stripes of branch colours. The white undress, service dress and greatcoat are similar to those for officers, with certain distinctions in detail. The full-dress cap is of the officers’ pattern, but the band is dark blue, edged with the branch or arm colour above and below, and the badge is brass in a white metal wreath. The slouch hat has a cord of the branch colours. Rank marks of non-commissioned officers are long, graceful chevrons (inherited from France) pointing upwards, 1, 2 and 3 for lance-corporals, corporals and sergeants, 3 with diamond star, &c., for “first sergeants” and corresponding ranks, 3 with the lower ends connected by bars or arcs of the chevron material for sergeant-majors and staff-sergeants. In full dress these chevrons are of the colour of the branch facings, in service dress of khaki embroidery.
Naval Uniforms.—The full-dress coat of British naval officers is a dark blue double-breasted swallow-tailed coat with gold buttons, lace and epaulettes, a white gold-edged slashed-flap on the sleeve with rings of lace showing rank. Dark blue trousers with gold stripes, and black silk cocked hat. The undress coats are frock coat, which may be worn with epaulettes, and double-breasted jumper, both having plain cuffs with rings of gold lace. The undress cap is a peaked cap with gold badge. Certain, petty officers wear blue jumpers, the rest and the sailors wear sailors dress (Plate IV., line 3, No. 7). White is worn in the tropics, with white pith helmets in the case of officers and broad-brimmed straw hats in that of the sailors. Royal Marine Artillery and Royal Marine Light Infantry are dressed as artillery and infantry of the army, with certain distinctions; they may always be recognized by the badge of a globe within a laurel wreath. (Plate IV., line 3, No. 1.)
Officers’ Rank Marks.—(a) On the epaulette: Batons in laurel wreath and crown, admiral of the fleet; crown, sword and baton crossed, and 1, 2, 3 stars, rear-admiral, vice-admiral, admiral; anchor and crown, with 0, 1, 2, stars, commander, junior captain, senior captain; anchor and star, senior lieutenant; anchor, junior lieutenant; anchor on fringe less epaulette, sub-lieutenant. (b) On the sleeve (in all orders of dress except white, and greatcoat): flag officers, broad gold ring with 1, 2, 3, 4 narrow rings (the uppermost with a curl) for rear-admiral, vice-admiral, &c.; other officers, 1, 2, 2 with narrower ring between, 3 and 4 for sub-lieutenant, junior lieutenant, senior lieutenant, commander and captain. (c) Shoulder straps in greatcoat and white undress, blue strap with bars and curl as on sleeve in other orders, except flag officers, who have gold-laced shoulder-strap with rank marks as on epaulette. Non-combatant branches have not the “curl,” and between the gold bars or rings there are “lights” or stripes of various colours according to branch. The Royal Naval Reserve officers have similar rank mark, but, instead of bars of plain lace, a thin twist of gold embroidery, and an oval badge surrounding the anchor on the epaulettes.
The uniforms of other navies are very similar to those of the British. The old-fashioned jacket worn over the sailor blouse, and the conspicuous white lapels of the full-dress coat, are the principal peculiarities of the German navy. The Spanish naval officer has red lapels. A very marked peculiarity of the Austrian navy is that the officers, dressed in all other respects similarly to the naval officers of other countries, have the military tunic. The marines, where they exist, conform to the infantry of the respective land forces in most respects; the German marines, however, wear the Jäger shako, and navy-blue uniforms with white collars and cuffs. (Plate IV., line 3, No. 3.)
See Colonel C. Walton, British Army; and British regimental histories; Ottenfeld and Teuber, Oesterreichs Armee; Richard Knötel, Uniformen-Kunde; R. Nevill, British Military Prints; Lienhardt and Humbert, Les Uniformes de l’Armée Française; British Dress Regulations, 1822, 1834, 1846, 1855–64, 1874, 1883, 1891 and 1904; Lavisse, Sac au Dos, and Moritz Ruhl’s handbooks of the German, Austrian, Russian, Italian and French army uniforms of the present day. The particulars given of the United States army uniforms have been obtained, by the kind permission of the United States Embassy, from official plates. (C. F. A.)
* ↑ In the cavalry an iron-framed skull-cap was often worn under the cocked hat.
* ↑ The 1st Life Guards have a red line, the 2nd a blue line, in the pouch belt.
* ↑ To be replaced by a shako.
* ↑ Not yet formed.