The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-11-03
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jor CITIZEN SOLDIERS
Issued by the Var Department and All
Rights to Reprint Re:erUed
ARMY INSIGNIA.


Vate 10 commanding general-SO much
SO. in fact, that ii is often difficult "a
recognize Il mans place in the service
at first glance. But closer view Will
tell the whole story 10 any experienced
observer.
Insignia" is the term used 70 Ia.
clude all the badges, buttons. braids,
hat cords. and other devices which in.
dIcatc these three things:
J. The rank Of each officer or sol.
der
.. His branch of the service or his
special duties.
3. His personal experience or record
An ordinary privutc's uniform car.
ricS no insignia of rank When II man
becomes 1irst-claSs private. however,
in the engineer corps, hospital corps,
ordinance department, quartermaster
corps, or signal corps, lie is entitled TO
wear ON the sleeves Of his coat ana
shirt the design of the department to
which he belongs.
n lance corporal wears on his sleeve
an inverted N-shapcd bar. \ corporal
has two bars, and sergeant three
bars. Below the sergeant's three V
shaped Inverted bars may appear
number of additional marks. indicat-
ing his duties. For example. a first
sergeant has Il diamond shaped mark
the stable sergeant has q device repre-
Senting Il horses head: the color ser.
geant has a star; the battalion quar-.
termaster sergeant has three horizon.
tai bars; the chief trumpeter has one
bar and device representing bugle;
and so on. All the cloth designs. such
as those just described, which are
sewn on the sleeves, are known As
"chevrOnS."
Above the nOncommissiOned officers,
rank is shown by various insignia on
the shoulder loops Of coats, on the
sleeves of coats and overcoats, on the
collars Of shirts, and by hat cords.
The most important are those made of
metal and sewed on shoulder loops and
shirt collars. a major general has two
silver stars; brigadicr general. one
silver star; colonel. Il silver eagle;
a lieutenant colonel, a silver oak leaf
a major, gold oak leaf: captain,
two silver bars; and Il first lieutenant,
one silver bar. A second lieutenant
has no shoulder insignia. You can
readily tell the rank of any officer by
glancing ut these metal insignia.
1t is often quite necessary, however,
to recognize that some one at a little
distance is a commissioned officer in
order that you may treat him with the
courtesy due to all officers; in this
case you look for the marks indicat-
ing that man holds commission
without waiting to observe his exact |
rank. Until recently commissioned Of |
ticorS cuStomarily wore leather leg |
vas leggingS. However, leather leg |
gings may now be worn by mounted |
men. The hat cord is another mark of |
rank which Is easily observed; the hat |
cords of generals are gOld those of |
other officers are of gold and black. |
Another mark Of an officer is Il band |
If brown braid about three inches |
rom the end of the coat sleeve. Off |
,ers of the general staff corps wear
black braid instead of brown. On |
,vercoats the braid is sewn on in
oops except that of general officers,
Who wear two black bands of braid.
Every branch of the service has its
special color which appears on the
'hevrons of noncommissiOned officers,
md in many other places. These
'OlOrS are:
Infantry, light blue; cavalry, yellow;
scarlet; adiutant generals,
Inspector generals, and judge advO-
ate generals departments, dark blue;
ngineer corps. scarlet intertwined
With white; signal corps, orange inter-
wined with white; medical depart
nent, maroon; quartermaster corps,
uff; ordnance department, black in.
ertwined with scarlet.
The number OF the regiment to which
ach man belongs is on the collar OF
is coat All rpgimental numbers will
un in three different series. showing
,hether each regiment was originally
part of the regular army. of the Ma
IOnal Guard. or of the new National
rmy. The numbers Of regiments for
lerly of the regular army will begin
18th the figure l and run up to the
CURE 100: those Of regiments former
Y in the National Guard will begin
18th figure 101 and run up to 800;
hose of regiments in the new National
rmy will begin with figure 3O1. The
primer National Guard regiments will
how also their former state designa-
Ons, as. for example. list Me), cd
az, etc. The device of regiments OF
ne new National army in the
anne way will show the state from
hich each organization, or the bulk
it. was drawn. as, for example,
W. Va.). (Minn), etc. Thus you
i'll easily he able to recognize not
My the mans regiment but also the
,ction of the country from which he
)mes and how he got into the serv-
e.
Your insignia should have-and will
ave-a big and deep meaning for you.
on will come to respect them and TO
iSh to honor them. You will find that
,py Orp moro to Won than piococ 90 |