page_title: Diplomatic uniform
section_title: Current
hierarchical_section_title: Diplomatic uniform / Diplomatic uniforms by country / United Kingdom / Current
caption_attribution_description: Peter Ammon, Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, and Anna Clunes, Vice-Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, were back to the Embassy of Germany in London on November 5, 2014.
context_page_description: Diplomatic uniforms are ornate uniforms worn by diplomats—ambassadorial and consular officers—at public occasions. Introduced by European states around 1800 and patterned on court dress, they were abandoned by most countries in the twentieth century, but diplomats from some countries retain them for rare, formal occasions.
context_section_description: Today within Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service Heads of Mission (ambassadors, high commissioners, etc.) and their deputies retain a simplified Diplomatic Uniform for wear on formal occasions such as the presentation of credentials (and then only when accredited to certain countries). As worn by Deputy Heads of Mission, the uniform consists of a dark blue single-breasted tail coat, lined with black silk, with gilt buttons; the stand collar and gauntlet cuffs are faced with black velvet and edged with gilt braiding; this is worn with dark trousers or skirt, a bicorn hat, white gloves and a gold-mounted sword. Heads of Mission have, in addition, gold embroidery on the collar and cuffs, gold stripes on the trousers and a white ostrich-feather edging to the hat. This form of uniform was introduced in the 1950s.
caption: Female UK diplomatic uniform, as worn by the Vice-Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps in 2014
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