The military of most armies in the world have signsallowing to distinguish ranks and stripes on military uniforms. RF is no exception. Russian servicemen, as well as their Ukrainian and Belarusian colleagues, are actively using elements to determine the belonging of soldiers to one or another kind of troops, on parade and field clothes. When did the stripes appear? What elements of clothing historically preceded them? How are they usually worn?
What are stripes?
Личный состав вооруженных сил практически любой Army of the world is represented in a variety of military ranks. In order to understand which of the military is a soldier and who is a general, there are so-called insignia. The main of them are shoulder straps, fixed, as a rule, on the shoulder areas of military uniforms. But besides them, there are also other types of signs of differences, including stripes. On a military uniform, they are attached with sewing stitches - hence the name.
They are located mainly on the sleeves of the militaryclothes. In addition to the distinctive function, stripes can sometimes reflect some achievements of a serviceman, belonging to any branch of the military or units. This element of military clothing is also popular in the civilian environment. With the help of stripes, people designate belonging to any organization, movement, association.
Patchwork technology
Universal standards for the manufacture of stripesNo, each garment factory uses its own technology. A rather popular option is when the stripe is a cloth glued with high-quality flizelin (for stiffening). Such samples, as a rule, are resistant to external influences and washes. Their form will persist for a long time. There are stripes manufactured using sublimation (or thermal transfer). They are characterized by the possibility of applying to them any images. Stitched to the fabric stripes can be manually or with the help of sewing machines. There are devices capable of applying patches in the framework of large quantities of clothing - the "conveyor" method. There are those that are adapted to the processing of certain types of clothing - trousers, jackets, baseball caps.
What is chevron
Chevrons are among the popular insignia.This word of French origin, means (in the most common interpretation) a rafter (as a rule, a ship). Chevrons are considered stripes on a military uniform in the form of V-shaped elements. Can be made of galun, cord, braid. Located, as a rule, on the sleeves. At a time when the armed forces of our country were called the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, what is now called the chevron was called the “arm-sign of distinction.”
This element is used in heraldry (composed offlags and coats of arms), as an architectural component (for describing parts of structures, ornaments), on military military equipment (mainly as insignia). Many conscripts serving as conscripts in the Russian army are called image chevrons or stripes on clothing that are not necessarily V-shaped.
The history of the appearance of chevrons
As such, the word "chevron" appeared and becamespread in the middle ages. The fact is that in even more ancient times, officers of sailing ships sewed insignia on the camisole in the form of rafters, that is, triangular. This was done so that the ship’s commanders could be clearly seen during the battle. Chevron, as already mentioned above, is a “truss” in French. Despite the fact that the shape of the stripes placed on the military uniform could differ from the classical triangular in later years, the name “chevron” remained.
Historians point out that over timeThe purpose of the chevrons changed. At some periods, military chevrons on the sleeves of soldiers meant seniority in rank. At other times, the number of stripes could mean the number of injuries a soldier received or the period of service. Chevrons were not an exclusive attribute of military clothing. They were used in civilian life. For example, as symbols of professional or social affiliation of a wearer.
How marks are used in the army
Stripes on a military uniform are one of manyinsignia used in the military. Among others - shoulder straps, cockades (on headdresses), epaulettes, boas, buttons, cants. Insignia are fixed on military uniforms in order to indicate the rank of the military, class rank, position, or personal military rank. Often - to determine whether a soldier belongs to a specific branch of service or department. The first insignia appeared in the days of tribal relations. They were used so that people belonging to different clans could distinguish each other (and those that were from one - to produce mutual identification). Insignia helped people form a hierarchy in relationships. The prototypes of modern stripes, some historians believe tattoos. The first insignia attached or depicted on clothes, according to a number of historians, were in ancient China. Legionnaires in the army of the Roman Empire also used such signs. Gradually, the warriors of other European powers began to place stripes on military uniforms.
Military and non-military uniform
In Russia, the status of military uniforms is defined onState level Heraldic Council under the President. This type of clothing is worn by citizens serving in several government bodies. These are the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service, the Federal Security Service, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia, the Emergencies Ministry, and the Federal Agency for Special Construction of the Ministry of Defense and the General Directorate of Special Programs of the President of Russia. For other departments, there are two other types of uniforms - clothing of civil servants of the state law enforcement service with special titles, as well as clothing of civil servants of law enforcement and civil service with class rankings.
Elements of distinction of military ranks on buttonholes
In a number of modern armies or militaryunits (for example, in the armed forces of Russia), the so-called petal insignia are used. These are emblems (almost always paired) placed on the collar of the uniform (buttonhole). During the Russian Empire, the main distinction was epaulettes.
But buttonholes appeared after the 1917 revolution.For the first time, historians recorded their use in 1922. The emblems of the combat arms were introduced in 1924, and a year later the military command of the USSR decided that the soldiers were obliged to wear buttonholes, on which there were insignia in categories of service and specialties, as well as with emblems of subunits (units). In 1935, military ranks appeared in a sound close to modern. Petlichnye insignia were used in the Soviet Army until 1943, when shoulder straps were introduced (and instead of emblems, buttonholes were placed on themselves).
Further, the rules of wearing this mark of differenceschanged. In the 1950s, the tradition of wearing emblems on buttonholes was restored, and it remained until 1994. After the buttonhole was not worn (except for the location of the emblems on the corners of collars and shoulder straps). But in 2004, “classic” emblems were introduced. The form of the Russian army contains petlichnye signs of difference in almost all branches of the military.
Chevrons in the Russian army
The official name of the chevrons in modernthe Russian army - "sleeve insignia". They determine the belonging of a soldier to a specific army formation. The layout of the stripes on the uniform is the left sleeve of the uniform.
Officially chevrons are in most types of troopsRF, but not all. The insignia of the insignia is worn by servicemen of the General Staff of Russia, soldiers of the Ground Forces, employees of the Russian Defense Ministry, pilots of the Russian Air Force, naval seamen, paratroopers of the Airborne Forces, and soldiers serving in the Rocket Forces and subunits of the Aerospace Defense of the Russian Armed Forces.
Army of Ukraine: elements of military uniform
Among the countries whose army uses stripeson a military uniform, - Ukraine. In particular, the sleeve elements are on the uniforms of the soldiers of the Marines. These stripes are used to determine which part of the military is serving.
They are worn on the left sleeve and are located 10 cm from the edge of the shoulder strap. On the field uniform, it is different: there is a patch pocket on the left sleeve. On it is attached a patch.
Army of Belarus: features of rank distinction
Stripes on military uniforms as marksdifferences are actively used by the Belarusian military. Depending on the rank, the servicemen of the Republic of Belarus wear a certain type of clothing and epaulets. For example, soldiers and sergeants (when wearing ceremonial tunics) put on red shoulder strap, ensigns are of protective color, and officers are golden. Regardless of rank, shoulder straps of protective color are used on the field uniform, besides they are removable. On ceremonial shirts - shoulder straps of the same color as on the jacket, but, as well as in the case of field uniforms, are removable.
