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A military uniform is a standardised clothing worn by members of the armed forces and Paramilitary of various nations.
Military dress and styles have gone through significant changes over the centuries, from colourful and elaborate, ornamented clothing until the 19th century, to utilitarian camouflage uniforms for field and battle purposes from World War I (1914–1918) on. Military uniforms in the form of standardised and distinctive dress, intended for identification and display, are typically a sign of organised military forces equipped by a central authority.
Military uniforms differ not only according to military units but tend to also be offered in different levels of formality in accordance with Western dress codes: full dress uniform for formal wear, mess dress uniform for formal black tie, service dress uniform for informal wear, and combat uniform (also called "battle/field dress") which would equal casual wear. Sometimes added to the casual wear category is physical training uniforms. The study used to design and produce military uniforms is referred to as military textile science.
Mercenary or irregular fighters could also develop their own fashions, which set them apart from civilians, but were not really uniforms. The clothing of the German of the 16th century is an example of distinctive military fashion. Special units such as developed non-standard uniforms to distinguish them from troops of the line.
While some auxiliary cohorts in the late Roman period had carried shields with distinctive colours or designs, there is no evidence that any one Roman legion was distinguished from another by features other than the numbers on the leather covers protecting their shields.
The regular thematic (provincial) and Tagmata (central) troops of the Byzantine Empire (East Roman) are the first known soldiers to have had what would now be considered regimental or unit identification. During the 10th century, each of the cavalry "banda" making up these forces is recorded as having plumes and other distinctions in a distinctive colour. Officers wore a waist sash or pekotarion, which may have been of different colours according to rank.
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 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 Adolphus, and the English armies of the English Civil War. In the earlier years of the latter, though the richer colonels uniformed their men (for instance, the Marquess of Newcastle's "Whitecoats" and King Charles's own red-coated Lifeguard of foot), the rustics and the citizens turned out for war in their ordinary rough clothes, donning armour and sword-belt. But in 1645 the Long Parliament raised an army for permanent service, and the colonels became officials rather than proprietors. The New Model Army 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 and breeches of grey. Soon afterwards the helmet was replaced by a grey broad-brimmed hat. From the coat was eventually evolved the tunic of the mid-19th century, and the hat became the cocked hat of a later generation, which generally disappeared during the decade of 1800–1810 to reappear in the late 19th and early 20th century, by which time it had its original form of a "slouch-hat." For service in Ireland the New Model Army's red coat was exchanged for one of russet colour, just as scarlet gave way to khaki for Indian service in the 19th century. The Ironsides cavalry, however, wore buff leather coats and armour long after the infantry had abandoned them.
Thus the principle ever since followed — uniform coat and variegated facings — was established. By choice or convenience the majority of the corps out of which the New Model Army was formed had come to be dressed in red, with facings according to the colonel's taste. In Austria sixty years afterwards events took the same course. The colonels there uniformed their men as they saw fit, but had, probably to obtain "wholesale" prices, agreed upon a serviceable colour, pearl grey. When in 1707 Prince Eugene procured the issue of uniform regulations, few line regiments had to be re-clothed. In France, as in England and Austria, the cavalry, still led by the wealthy classes rather 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. The Marquis of 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.
During the 18th century the normal military uniform in Europe comprised a standardised form of civilian dress (tricorn hat, long-skirted coat, waistcoat and breeches).John Mollo, pp. 44-49 "Military Fashion", One distinctively military feature were the long canvas gaiters which came up to mid-thigh and had multiple . Dress was surprisingly standardised between European armies in cut and general outline. The distinction normally lay in colours: red coats for the British and Danes, light grey then white for the French, Spanish, and Austrian
infantry, dark blue for the Prussians and Portuguese, green for the Russians, etc.John Mollo, p. 45 "Military Fashion", Within each army different regiments were usually distinguished by "facings" — linings, turnbacks, and braiding on coats in colours that were distinctive to one or several regiments. The Royal Comtois Infantry Regiment of the French Army, for example, had large dark blue on its off-white coats. To a certain extent the functions required of a given group of soldiers were reflected in their dress. Thus artillery uniforms in most armies were usually of dark blue, for the practical reason that handling black powder would have soiled lighter coloured clothing. Infantry drummers and cavalry trumpeters often had "reverse" colours with coats the colour of the regimental facings and facings the colour of the regimental coats.Officers (who paid for their own clothing) were slower to accept uniforms. During the late 17th century they were often dressed in individual styles and colours according to their own taste and means. In part this was because the uniform dress issued to the rank and file was considered a form of livery — the mark of a servant and demeaning to members of the social class from which officers came. One early practice in the French and other armies was for officers to wear coats of the facing colour of their regiments. Rank insignia as such was unknown until well into the 18th century. The gorget hanging from a chain around the neck (a last survival of medieval armour) was the only universally recognised mark of an officer until epaulettes developed from clusters of ribbons formerly worn on the shoulder.John Mollo, p. 49 "Military Fashion", In the British army officers were ordered to adopt epaulettes by a clothing warrant dated 1768. Even when officers' uniforms became the subject of detailed regulation they remained easily distinguishable from those of other ranks, by the better quality and richness of the materials and trimmings used. Gold or silver braiding on the hats and coats of officers usually matched the bronze or pewter of the numerous buttons on regimental clothing.
New uniforms were issued with surprising frequency in some 18th-century armies (once a year in the British service). It should, however, be remembered that a soldier had to march, parade, fight and sometimes sleep in the same garment and that such extras as greatcoats or working clothes were seldom issued until the end of the century.
The ornamental peak of the military uniform was reached in the early 19th century in Western Europe. Sometimes the Napoleonic Wars are identified as being the acme of colourful and ornate uniforms, but actually the several decades of relative peace that followed were a time of even more decorative styles and embellishments. The Napoleonic soldier on campaign was likely to present a shabby and nondescript appearance as unsuitable peacetime dress quickly deteriorated or was replaced with whatever local substitutes were available. Until later on in the century dyes were primitive and different batches of uniforms worn by the same unit might present differing shades, especially after exposure to rain and sun. The white uniforms popular amongst many armies through the 18th and early 19th centuries soiled easily and had to be pipeclay to retain any semblance of cleanliness. Green as worn by Jäger and Rifle regiments proved particularly prone to fading until suitable chemical dyes were devised in the 1890s. British soldiers were known for their striking red clothing (hence the name "Redcoats"). This was actually a fairly dull shade of Alizarin until the general adoption of scarlet for tunics in the 1870s.
No uniform was prescribed for the French Navy until a standardised suit for officers of blue and red was decreed in 1764. This evolved from optional blue clothing authorised by Royal decree as early as 1665, although practical grey, brown or black colours were worn at sea. In other 17th-18th navies of Mediterranean states red was a commonly worn colour.
Until the middle of the 19th century only officers and warrant officers in the Royal Navy wore regulated uniforms. Through the 18th century to the Napoleonic Wars navy officers had a form of dress broadly resembling that of army officers, though in dark blue with white facings. In the early 19th century Royal Navy officers developed a more distinctive form of uniform comprising (in full dress uniform) a cocked hat, dark blue coatee with white collar and cuffs, dark blue or white trousers, or breeches.
Epaulettes and braiding were gold and varied according to rank. In a simplified form this dress (without the cocked hat) survives as the modern ceremonial dress for flag officers. Throughout this period sailors supplied or made their own clothing. Sailors developed traditional clothing suitable for their work: loose-fitting trousers with belts made of rope; tunics that slipped over the head, with arms to above the wrist so that the cloth would not foul in ropes passing through a cleat or pulley. For cold weather, a Sweater was knitting from yarn or wool. For wet weather, old sail cloth was made into a coat (with hat or attached hood) that was waterproofed with tallow or fat. In these days, the officers would designate certain afternoons to "make and mend" (clothing). A sailor with little clothing to make or mend used this time as "time off". In January 1857 the decision was taken to issue complete uniforms to petty officers and seamen. This included features which can still be recognised in the Class I uniform of ratings in the modern Royal Navy - notably the wide blue collar with white tapes, a black neckerchief, white lanyard and blue or white jumper. The flared "bell bottom" trousers disappeared after the Second World War. Because of the global dominance of the Royal Navy from Trafalgar to the Second World War RN uniforms became the model for virtually all other navies. While certain distinctive features emerged - such as the red pompon worn on the crown of the French sailor's cap, the open fronted jacket of the German Navy or the white round cap of the U.S. Navy - the overall pattern remained standard until the development of specialist working or protective rigs during the Second World War.
The Union eventually got most of its men into regulation Federal blue but this often faded until it appeared grey. Originally the Confederate government relied on the "commutation" system which required the states to provide their own uniforms. While the commutation system was in place, many states were not able to provide an ample supply of uniforms and captured federal uniforms were common. Later in the war the Confederate national government provided uniforms from a central depot system, including the famous Richmond and Columbus depots. Many photographs of Confederate soldiers from later in the war (usually casualties) are wearing standardised uniforms. As Sherman's men marched across Georgia and up the Carolinas, they were cut off from supply by the Union and began wearing clothing of Confederate origin. Confederate soldiers used a variety of vegetable and imported dyes which would fade to a "butternut" colour.
The British were the first to introduce drab/khaki uniforms: in 1848 in India."Khaki Uniform 1848-49: First Introduction by Lumsden and Hodson", Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, JSAHR 82 (Winter 2004) pp 341-347 This khaki drill then became more generally worn from the Indian Rebellion of 1857 both in India and Africa. A darker version, known as "service drab", was adopted for home service field wear in 1902, the same year that the US Army also adopted khaki for non-dress occasions. The Italians introduced grey-green in 1909, followed by the German and Austrian armies who adopted different shades of grey. The Russians had changed to a grey shade of khaki in 1908, following their experience in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. There was however strong attachment to the colourful uniforms as previously worn on all occasions and the process was not an inexorable one. The Danish Army adopted grey-green uniforms for all occasions in 1903, reverted to a combination of dark and light blue in 1910, took up light grey in 1915 and finally settled for khaki in 1923. The Imperial Russian armies, following their adoption of khaki-grey field uniforms in 1908, took the opportunity to upgrade their parade uniforms to much more elaborate and colorful styles, and were experimenting with a mix of khaki and bright colours when war broke out in 1914.
The Japanese Army probably went further than most in adopting khaki for all occasions after 1905, although even here officers of all branches and the cavalry of the Imperial Guard retained traditional coloured uniforms for formal and ceremonial occasions.With the exception of Western-influenced units such as the "Ever-Triumphant Army" of the Taiping Rebellion (1851–66), Chinese armies of the 19th century wore dress that was broadly variegated. Embroidered chest panels and coloured buttons on headdresses were used to distinguish rank and sometimes unit. From 1910 the Imperial Chinese Army adopted dark blue uniforms of Japanese style with coloured facings of red, white, or yellow to distinguish the different branches. The Imperial Guard Division had a light grey uniform with the same branch colours as the line. A khaki summer uniform was worn by the entire army.
By the 20th century, drab colours were increasingly being adopted for active service and ordinary duty wear. The First World War finally put an end to the expensive practice of furnishing colourful uniforms to all ranks of the various armies. Amongst the frontline troops in August 1914 only the Belgian and French
armies saw active service in bright colours and old fashioned headgear (although the Austro-Hungarian cavalry retained their blue and red uniforms for field wear after the remainder of the army had gone into pike grey in 1909). The Imperial German field grey of 1910 retained a number of traditional features such as Pickelhaube, shakos, busbies, and coloured piping from the older uniforms. The demands of modern warfare as well as financial economy soon saw these survivals vanish, and by 1916 all involved armies were in either khaki (Russia, Turkish, Serbia, Montenegro, Japan, Greek, French colonial, and Britain), various shades of grey (German, Italian, Bulgarian, Portuguese, and Austria-Hungary) or sky blue (French and Romanian). The coloured uniforms of peacetime were often relegated to depot wear by recruits doing their basic training.Steel helmets first appeared in the form of the Adrian helmet adopted by the French Army in 1915. The practical advantages of this innovation led the British and German armies to adopt their own helmets by 1916. Other armies followed suit – the Belgians and Italians for example copying the French model and the Austro-Hungarians that of Germany.
The use of steel helmets was by now almost universal and a number of countries adopted their own designs moving away from the German, British, and French models of the First World War. The Italians, Soviets, Japanese, Swiss, Spanish and Portuguese were amongst these. Steel helmets, originally simply items of utilitarian protective clothing, were adopted as parade headdress by the French, German, Italian, and Soviet armies, amongst others, between the Wars.
The US Army discarded its First World War style field uniforms in 1941 in favour of a very plain and practical combat uniform in a thin light brown wool shirt (sometimes with an olive green cast) and slightly darker trousers. This was worn in conjunction with a smart olive drab "Class A" dress uniform—which in many cases varied to a rich "chocolate" brown tunic worn with khaki trousers. There was a khaki version of the Class A dress uniform for summer wear. The war started with American combat troops wearing ankle boot with "spats" (a form of gaiters), replaced later in the war with 2-buckle combat boots.
By contrast, British soldiers, other than officers, had their 1938 battledress for all occasions.
In Germany the Nazi regime retained uniforms with many traditional features from Imperial Germany for its army uniforms, such as field grey cloth, marching boots (a taller version for officers), collar litzen (braiding) and breeches (for officers and NCOs); German Panzer (tank) troops had a special combat uniform made of black wool and German troops serving in tropical climates had uniforms in a shade of khaki. Later in the war, severe leather shortages led to the replacement of marching boots with ankle height shoes worn with gaiters (Gemäsch).
Imperial Japan used a light brown or khaki colour for most Imperial army uniforms — though there was also a green service dress tunic for officers. Footwear was reddish brown jack boots (restricted for wear only by officers), while soldiers wore shoes with leg wrappings puttees).
From 1935 to 1943, Soviet Army uniforms for all troops (except than tank troops) were an intermediate shade of brown; uniforms included a field uniform ("gymnasterka" shirt with collar tabs and a 2-button breast opening, belt, breeches, garrison cap, and boots), a service dress "kittel" tunic worn with breeches or trousers, and a dress uniform "mundir" tunic (worn with deep blue breeches). Soviet tank troops wore the gymnastyrka shirt, kittel (dress tunic) in a bluish grey (rather than brown) colour. In 1943, the Soviet Army began to re-adopt many Tsarist Army features, notably braided , which had previously been forbidden (since the founding of the Soviet Army) as a sign of an undesirable "social class" mentality. The reintroduction of these epaulettes in 1943 was a relatively inexpensive means of boosting Soviet troop morale. Once reintroduced to the Soviet Army, the use of shoulder boards was never rescinded and they remained part of the uniform until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The distinct bluish grey colour for tankers was eliminated in 1943, from which point on all units of the Soviet Army wore brown.
The military of many countries have adopted the economical expedient of smartening up combat uniforms for parade by adding medals, neck scarves and coloured to the terrain coloured camouflage uniforms intended for combat. As an interesting example of the combining of old and new features of uniform the French Spahis and the Spanish Regulares still wear the flowing cloaks, fezzes, and sashes of the North African colonial regiments from which they are descended with modern khaki or camouflage clothing, on appropriate occasions.
Sailors of the French Navy and Fusiliers marins wear a dress uniform dating from the 19th century with a distinctive red pompon on the round cap.
The infantry and cavalry of the Republican Guard retain their late 19th-century dress uniforms, as do the military cadets of Saint-Cyr and the École polytechnique. A dark blue/black evening dress is authorized for officers
and individual branches or regiments may parade bands or "fanfares" in historic dress dating as far back as the Napoleonic period.
The Indian Army camouflage uniform consists of shirts, trousers, and cap of a synthetic material. Shirts are buttoned up with two chest pockets with buttoned flaps. Trousers have two pockets, two thigh box pockets, and a back pocket. The Indian Army Jungle camouflage dress features a jungle camouflage pattern and is designed for use in woodland environments. The Indian Army Desert camouflage, which features a desert camouflage pattern, is used by artillery and infantry posted in dusty, semi-desert, and desert areas of Rajasthan and its vicinity.
Parade dress for the modern Indian Army normally involve the addition of pagris (turbans), cravats and in regimental colours to olive green uniforms. Gurkha, Kumaoni, Naga, Garhwali and Assam units wear wide brimmed felt hats.
The traditional headdresses of the Bersaglieri, Horse Artillery and Alpini are still worn by the Italian Army, the Bersaglieri even wearing their flowing feathers on steel helmets as part of their combat dress. Officers of all branches have a dark blue dress uniform of modern cut while the Corazzieri (Cuirassiers of the Presidential Guard), Mounted Carabinieri and cadets of the Military Academy of Modena wear ceremonial uniforms which date back to the 19th century. Individual regiments with a long history, such as the Lancieri di Montebello and the Granatieri di Sardegna occasionally parade honour guards or other detachments in their pre-1915 dark blue uniforms.
The Iranian military uses several types of camouflage patterns. Three distinct desert camouflage patterns with slightly differing colour palettes and blotch densities have been issued; one for the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, one for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and a third pattern used by the tarabaris personnel who repair military cars and trucks. A green and brown forest camouflage pattern was also issued to the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force. The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force was issued an arctic blue camouflage pattern. A pixelated grey and green camouflage pattern was issued to the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy.
Based on recommendations made during a comprehensive briefing by Task Force Uniform on 24 Feb. 2006, CNO Michael G. Mullen agreed to production of both a BDU-style working uniform for all Sailors E-1 to O-10 and a more practical, year-round service uniform to withstand day-to-day classroom and office-like environments where the service uniform is typically worn. The new Navy Working Uniform (NWU) is now worn by naval sailors and officers. On 6 June 2006 the US Army announced that its green and white uniforms would be superseded by the Army Blue Uniform as a universal service uniform in the historic colours of dark blue (for tunics) and light blue (for trousers). The new service dress was introduced in 2007 and became obligatory for all ranks by 2011.
As of 1 April 2021, the Air Force makes use of the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) as a common daily uniform. This is the same uniform worn by the US Army with the exception of distinctive name patches with copper lettering. The footwear worn with ABUs are coyote brown suede boots and head covering is the OCP pattern Patrol Cap or ball cap, or the beret of the relevant career field (Security Forces, Special Operations Weather Team, SERE Instructor, Pararescue, and Combat Controller). Aside from OCPs, the most common uniform to be worn would be dress blues, which incorporate a light navy blue for bottoms, and the same shade to match the top jacket. Underneath the top jacket either a long sleeve or short sleeve sky blue shirt may be worn with a tie or neck tab whenever wearing the top jacket. The jacket is reserved for more formal events. Placed on the outermost tunic, Airmen may pin their ribbons and career badge as optional with their name plate as the only mandatory item. For headgear a flight cap of matching shade to the pants and similar in appearance to the former Army green garrison cap and the shoes are a black high polished dress shoe. Other, but not standard, headgear includes the flat top mess dress cap and the appropriate beret career field beret. Blues, though the second most used uniform, receive far less service than OCPs. Those performing duties not suited for the formal dress uniform may wear OCPs instead. The Mess Uniform uses the same pants and jacket as dress blues, but with a white under-shirt, bow tie and cummerbund, and the same black dress shoes. DAFI 26-2903
Another purpose in historical times was to make it difficult for desertion to avoid detection; military uniforms were so distinctive with many metal buttons and unique colours that they could not be modified into unrecognisable clothing. If the commander raised and equipped the troops out of his own pocket, the appearance of the soldiers was also designed to impress his superiors.
Attractive or distinctive uniforms could make a military career desirable to young men or women (the "peacock" factor). As late as 1914 the British Army found that regiments with particularly striking off-duty or parade uniforms found it easier to attract recruits. Thus the four The Rifles regiments in their sombre dark green had a higher public profile than the great mass of line infantry in scarlet.
However, with the growing prevalence of accurate and other ranged as standard weapons for infantry, it was found, from about the 1880s on, that these colours made soldiers easy targets for enemies to shoot at a distance. These weapons used a new smokeless powder that generated far less smoke leaving the battlefield un-obscured by smoke and making brightly coloured troops into highly visible targets. In reaction, the various militaries, beginning with the British Army, changed the colours, predominantly to such ones that blended in more with the terrain, such as khaki, grey or olive drab for the purposes of camouflage. In addition, this idea was followed with uniforms suitable for particular climates and seasons such as white for snowy regions and tan for sandy ones. Now most armies have some form of camouflaged uniform, such as the British Disruptive Pattern Material. Many modern military forces now use a system of combat uniforms that not only break up the outline of the soldier for use on the battlefield during the daytime, but also employ a distinctive appearance that makes them difficult to detect with light amplification devices, such as night-vision goggles (NVGs). These modern "digital" print uniforms present a somewhat splotched appearance, generally of somewhat muted colours, that provide visual concealment in a variety of surroundings. The US Army now issues, for all theatres of operations, the Army Combat Uniform, which replaces the Battle Dress Uniform and the Desert Combat Uniform. The colour scheme on these ACUs is a faded green/grey/tan pattern of random-appearing rectangular shapes. Pocket outlines on the front of the jackets are offset from vertical, so as to present a less distinctive straight line for the eye to follow while using NVGs. The U.S. Marine Corps also issues similar uniforms with their MARPAT pattern, the U.S. Marines considered adopting CADPAT for their new pattern, however, the Canadian government owns the copyright for the pattern which it had been developing since 1988. The Canadian government supplied information and manufacturers to help the Marines with the development of their own computer-generated digital pattern pixelated uniform. Though their uniforms are not designed to replace both woodland pattern uniforms and desert pattern, since both woodland digital and desert digital patterns are available. Similarly the US Air Force has begun fielding digital pattern uniforms to their service members, with those uniforms featuring a blue/grey/tan pattern).
The "uniform of the day" may also be referred to as the "dress of the day" in some militaries.
The warriors of ancient Sparta, normally known for their austere lifestyle, wore expensive red cloaks. Reportedly this was adopted as the only colour on which the spilled blood of their enemies would not leave stains. There is a popular myth that the historic red coat of the English soldier was adopted for the same reason (in fact, blood does show as a dark stain on red clothing and the British red coat originated as a historical accident, possibly as a result of the relative cheapness of madder red dyes at the time of the English Civil War in the mid-17th century).
Hair styles in military organisations usually follow civilian fashions, but sometimes certain features are associated with soldiers. In the late 19th century, the ornate and moustaches worn by the officers of the day, which complemented their Military rank and age, were also worn by socially equivalent civilians. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the "high and tight" haircut often distinguished low-ranking soldiers, particularly infantrymen, or, in the United States, Marines and Soldiers of all ranks. The principal purpose, however, of the "high and tight" is to prevent lice and promote general hygiene. Modern regulations against beards also ensure a good seal is made around the face when using a gas mask.
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