CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I.Origin and History of Uniform[ 1]
II.Service, Corps and Rank[17]
III.Ensigns, Flags and Pennants[53]
IV.Uniforms and Insignia of the United States Army[64]
V.Uniforms and Insignia of the United States Navy[108]
VI.Uniforms and Insignia of the U. S. Marine Corps[147]
VII.Uniforms and Insignia of the U. S. Coast Guard[170]
VIII.Uniforms and Insignia of the U. S. Lighthouse Service
and U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey[182]
IX.Uniforms and Insignia of the U. S. Public Health Service [188]
X.Medals, Badges and Ribbons[201]
XI.Uniforms and Insignia of Foreign Armies and Navies[216]
XII.Uniforms and Insignia of the American Red Cross[292]
XIII.Uniforms and Insignia of the War Workers of the
Young Men’s Christian Association[303]
XIV.Customs of the Services[306]
XV.Honors and Distinctions[314]
Index[325]

ARMY AND NAVY UNIFORMS
AND INSIGNIA

CHAPTER I
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF UNIFORM

In its military sense the word “uniform,” as a noun, is specifically used to denote the distinctive style of dress and equipment established by governmental regulation and worn by any naval or military organization in order that all of the individual elements of that organization will present a homogeneous appearance. In general all uniforms are divided into two principal classes, dress uniforms and undress or service uniforms, the modern field uniforms belonging to the latter class. Dress uniforms are for use on occasions of ceremony and, as in the case of civilian attire, they are usually more ornate and gaudy than the working service uniforms.

The use of some form of uniform dress for fighting men both on land and sea is common to all civilized nations and this general custom has resulted from a gradual growth during the whole Christian era. In this growth military necessity, convenience, economical considerations and sentiment have all played a part.

The famed Legions of Cæsar were by imperial order all garbed and armed alike, which is one of the first recorded cases of the use of a uniform for soldiers. Some of the regiments of Hannibal also wore distinctive colors practically amounting to a uniform. The galley slaves of ancient Rome, the “motive power” of the man-of-war of that day, were all garbed in a costume of identical cut and color bearing the number of the galley in which they served, but this should be looked upon more as a badge of servitude than as a naval uniform.