Uniformology

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Uniformology is a branch of the auxiliary sciences of history which studies uniforms - especially military uniforms - through ages and civilizations.

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Three French army generals of Louis XVI in military dress, the inspectors of doctors, surgeons and the barracks. Coloured lithograph by G. David after A. de Marbot. Three French army generals of Louis XVI in military dress, Wellcome V0015735.jpg
Three French army generals of Louis XVI in military dress, the inspectors of doctors, surgeons and the barracks. Coloured lithograph by G. David after A. de Marbot.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dragoon</span> Type of mounted soldiers

Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat with swords and firearms from horseback. While their use goes back to the late 16th century, dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the 17th and early 18th centuries; they provided greater mobility than regular infantry but were far less expensive than cavalry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epaulette</span> Decorative shoulder covering for military uniforms

Epaulette is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes are referred to as shoulder scales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uhlan</span> Type of light cavalry originating in Central and Eastern Europe

Uhlans were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. While first appearing in the cavalry of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including France, Russia, Prussia, Saxony, and Austria-Hungary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military uniform</span> Standardised military dress

A military uniform is a standardised dress worn by members of the armed forces and paramilitaries of various nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bearskin</span> Style of cap made from bearskin

A bearskin is a tall fur cap, usually worn as part of a ceremonial military uniform. Traditionally, the bearskin was the headgear of grenadiers, and remains in use by grenadier and guards regiments in various armies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baikal Cossacks</span> Host of Cossacks in the Transbaikal region of eastern Russia

Baikal Cossacks were Cossacks of the Transbaikal Cossack Host ; a Cossack host formed in 1851 in the areas beyond Lake Baikal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mess dress uniform</span> Formal evening dress worn by military personnel

Mess dress uniform is the most formal type of evening-wear uniform used by military personnel, police personnel, and other uniformed services members. It frequently consists of a mess jacket, trousers, white dress shirt and a black bow tie, along with orders and medals insignia. Design may depend on regiment or service branch, e.g. army, navy, air force, marines, etc. In modern Western dress codes, mess dress uniform is the supplementary alternative equivalent to the civilian black tie for evening wear. Mess dress uniforms are typically less formal than full dress uniform, but more formal than service dress uniform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Czapka</span>

Czapka is a Polish, Belarusian, and Russian generic word for a cap. However, it is perhaps best known to English speakers as a word for the 19th-century Polish cavalry headgear, consisting of a high, four-pointed cap with regimental insignia on the front to which feathers or rosettes were sometimes added.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shako</span> Tall, cylindrical military cap with a visor

A shako is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with an ornamental plate or badge on the front, metallic or otherwise; and often has a feather, plume or pompom attached at the top.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feldgrau</span> Grey-green color used by the German military

Feldgrau is a grayish green color. It was the official basic color of military uniforms of the German armed forces from the early 20th century until 1945 or 1989. Armed forces of other countries also used various shades of that color. Feldgrau was used to refer to the color of uniforms of the armies of Germany, first the Imperial German Army and later the Heer of the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full dress uniform</span> Uniform for wear on formal occasions

Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is the most formal type of uniforms used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for official parades, ceremonies, and receptions, including private ones such as marriages and funerals. Full dress uniforms typically include full-size orders and medals insignia. Styles tend to trace back to uniforms used during the 19th century, although the 20th century saw the adoption of mess dress-styled full-dress uniforms. Designs may depend on regiment or service branch. In Western dress codes, full dress uniform is a permitted supplementary alternative equivalent to the civilian white tie for evening wear or morning dress for day wear – sometimes collectively called full dress – although military uniforms are the same for day and evening wear. As such, full dress uniform is the most formal uniform, followed by the mess dress uniform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Court uniform and dress in the United Kingdom</span>

Court uniform and dress were required to be worn by those in attendance at the royal court in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Facing colour</span>

A facing colour is a common tailoring technique for European military uniforms where the visible inside lining of a standard military jacket, coat or tunic is of a different colour to that of the garment itself. The jacket lining evolved to be of different coloured material, then of specific hues. Accordingly, when the material was turned back on itself: the cuffs, lapels and tails of the jacket exposed the contrasting colours of the lining or facings, enabling ready visual distinction of different units: regiments, divisions or battalions each with their own specific and prominent colours. The use of distinctive facings for individual regiments was at its most popular in 18th century armies, but standardisation within infantry branches became more common during and after the Napoleonic Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uniforms of the British Army</span> Military dress

The uniforms of the British Army currently exist in twelve categories ranging from ceremonial uniforms to combat dress. Uniforms in the British Army are specific to the regiment to which a soldier belongs. Full dress presents the most differentiation between units, and there are fewer regimental distinctions between ceremonial dress, service dress, barrack dress and combat dress, though a level of regimental distinction runs throughout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full plaid</span> Scottish Highland dress

A full plaid, or just a plaid, is a long piece of tartan fabric, most often worn as part of a Highland dress. It usually matches the tartan of the kilt. A modern full plaid is pleated the whole way, with half of its length sewn shut. Its length is about twice the distance from the ground to the wearer's shoulder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Service Dress (British Army)</span> Uniform of the British Army

Service Dress is the style of khaki service dress uniform introduced by the British Army for use in the field from the early 1900s, following the experiences of a number of imperial wars and conflicts, including the Second Boer War. This variant of uniform continues to be worn today, although only in a formal role, as No. 2 Pattern dress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siberian Cossacks</span> Cossacks who settled in Siberia after its conquest by Russia

Siberian Cossacks were Cossacks who settled in the Siberian region of Russia from the end of the 16th century, following Yermak Timofeyevich's conquest of Siberia. In early periods, practically the whole Russian population in Siberia, especially the serving-men, were called Cossacks, but only in the loose sense of being neither land-owners nor peasants. Most of these people came from northwest Russia and had little connection to the Don Cossacks or Zaporozhian Cossacks.

The military uniforms of the Union Army in the American Civil War were widely varied and, due to limitations on supply of wool and other materials, based on availability and cost of materials. The ideal uniform was prescribed as a dark blue coat with lighter pants, with a black hat. Officer's ranks were denoted with increasing levels of golden decoration. Specific jobs, companies, and units had markedly different styles at times, often following European customs such as that of the Zouaves. Officers uniforms tended to be highly customized and would stray from Army standard. Ironically, several main pieces of gear had been created by order of the U.S. War Secretary Jefferson Davis before the war; he later became Confederate President.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranks and insignia of the German Army (1935–1945)</span> Military insignia

The Heer as the German army and part of the Wehrmacht inherited its uniforms and rank structure from the Reichsheer of the Weimar Republic (1921–1935). There were few alterations and adjustments made as the army grew from a limited peacetime defense force of 100,000 men to a war-fighting force of several million men.

A formation patch or formation badge is a military insignia that identifies a soldier's military formations. Originally developed during the 20th century for battlefield identification, it has persisted into the 21st century as an element of military heraldry.