The Washington herald., 1919-02-10
Wound and Service Cheurons Only
Kind Officially Recognized by u S.;
Many Others Are Worn by Doughboys
"La Fowragere" Decora-
ion by French Among
Most Popular Of War
Honors Among Ameri-
cans; Regiments Choose
Insignia.

So numerous and puzzling are the
decorations and medals which are
being worn by returned soldiers,
both enlisted men and officers, that
II would take a pocket military die
tionary to list and describe them.
Even though these decorations are
unofficial and may be prohibited in
the future by the War Department,
they are nevertheless being worn to
the extent that the passerby on the
street who sees one of our boys
"dolled" up with several of them.
needs little guidance to determine
the uniformed ones status.
Not all of these stripes, medals,
chevrons. etc, that are seen on the
arms of the soldiers indicate cita-
tion for bravery in action. Many
of them denote certain regiments,
battalions, companies. or other or
ganization which have chosen a
peculiar marking to identify it's
members.
LA Fourragere."
Not only have American COM
panies originated their own pecu-
liar markings and decorations, but
many of our allies have added to
the collection and thereby given the
casual observer something else to
puzzle over. The best way to find
out what this or that marking.
medal. cord. or other decoration
means is to ask the wearer himself
for an explanation.
The easiest to explain is the cita-
ton cord. Ia fourragere." as 1t is
known in French. The cord is worn
on the left shoulder, passing under
the arm and fastened to the coat
button.
When a regiment is cited once for
the cord. its color is red. When
cited three times. the color is red
and green. When cited six times.
yellow and green.
There is, however, one shoulder
marking which was born of neces-
sity.
It's name is legion. 1t can hardly be
described, as it comes in so many
marking designed to fool the Ger
mans. The collar ornaments usually
worn by the soldiers were so plain to
the enemy in actual warfare that the
Germans could tell what divisions
were facing them. The War Depart
ment got busy and invented a series
of secret markings which deceived the
Germans.
The. Seventy-seventh Division. which
trained at Camp Upton, adopted the
Statue of Liberty design seen near the
top of the left-hand picture. The
Sunshine Division" of California,
adopted a blue circle with a blazing
sun in the center. The "All Ameri-
can." Eighty-second Division, adopted
as it's own peculiar marking a circle
in black with two white AS on it.
careful study OF both pictures will
give a fair idea Of the markings and
decorations that are most commonly
seen. However, some of them are
peculiar to the part of the country
are apt to be seen anywhere, especiai-
ly the foreign decorations and citation
marks.
Only OmciaI Markings.
The only official markings worn are
! the service chevrons as designated
! by the General Stafr for service here
! or abroad. A gold chevron on the
right sleeve denotes that the wearer
I has been wounded in action-one
chevron for each wound or time
gassed. A gold chevron on the left
sleeve denotes six months at the
front-one chevron for each additional
six months. A blue chevron on left
sleeve denotes service less than six
months at the front. A silver chew
I ron on the left sleeve denotes six
months service in this country-an
additional chevron for each additional
six months. A red chevron on the
/ left sleeve. above the elbow, denotes
that the wearer has been honorably
discharged from the army.
These are all the markings that any
soldier has an official right to wear
The rest, no matter what they sig
nifty. are unofficial.