The cap for Flag Officers is of blue cloth with a patent leather visor and a band of gold embroidery, and it has an insignia on the front consisting of a gold anchor with various decorations of leaves for the different grades and corps.
The cap for officers below the rank of Rear Admiral is of the same design, with narrow stripes of gold braid around the band to indicate the rank of the wearer. On ordinary service aboard ship a cap of the same design with a band of black silk ribbon is worn. The device worn on the front of the cap by these officers is a gold foul anchor placed vertical.
Warrant officers wear dress uniforms similar to those worn by commissioned officers; their cap has one narrow gold stripe around the band and a gold anchor on the front, and their sleeves have three narrow stripes, the upper one of gold one-quarter of an inch wide, the middle one a twisted silver rope one-eighth of an inch wide and the lower one of gold of the same rope design.
The enlisted men of the French Navy wear uniforms of dark blue cloth for cold weather and of white for hot weather, those for the chief petty officers consisting of a plain cap with black leather visor, a sack coat with gilt buttons and plain trousers, and those for enlisted men of lower ratings consisting of a flat sailor cap, overshirt and trousers of a design similar to those worn in the British Navy. A prominent feature of their uniform cap is a red pompon in the center of the top of the crown.
The overcoats are of dark blue cloth of the design commonly styled “pea jackets.”
The rating or rank of the petty officers is indicated by distinguishing marks worn upon the sleeves; some of the principal ones being:—
| Chief Petty Officers. | |
| Seaman Branch | Two narrow gold stripes on each sleeve above the cuff, and on the cap a gold anchor and a narrow gold stripe around the band. |
| Commissary Branch | The same except that the sleeve stripes are silver. |
| Musicians | Two twisted gold stripes on the cuff and a gold lyre on each side of the collar. |
| Petty Officers, First Class. | |
| Seaman Branch | One gold stripe on each sleeve above the cuff, and a gold anchor on the cap. |
| Commissary Branch | The same except that the sleeve stripe is silver. |
| Buglers and Drummers | One gold stripe on each sleeve, worn diagonally. |
| Musicians | One twisted gold stripe on each sleeve and a gold anchor on each side of the collar. |
| Petty Officers, Second Class. | |
| Seaman Branch | Two stripes of red cloth on each sleeve between the elbow and the cuff. |
| Yeoman Branch | One broken gold stripe on each sleeve between the elbow and the shoulder. |
| Musicians | Two stripes of red cloth on each sleeve between the elbow and the cuff. |
| Stewards | Two stripes of orange colored cloth on each sleeve between the elbow and the cuff. |
| Buglers and Drummers | One diagonal gold stripe on each sleeve. |
All petty officers of the second class and also seamen wear two anchors crossed on the upper part of the right sleeve.
There are also a number of specialty marks for such special ratings as cook, tailor, shoemaker and armorer.
The distinctive mark of band musicians is a gold lyre worn on each side of the collar, and that of the hospital corps is the red Geneva cross.