United States.—The Army air service being an integral part of the army, the members wear the uniform laid down for the army with particular distinctions, viz., aviators and observers wear a pair of wings and a vertical propeller in silver on the left breast; enlisted men wear the same on the sleeve; flying in structors a pair of wings only.
France.—The air service is an integral part of the army and its members' uniform is the same as the infantry except that the collar patches are dark blue instead of horizon blue and the piping on the uniform, orange for balloons, light blue for observation, green for fighting, red for bombing, grey for non-flying personnel.
Japan.—As part of the army the air service wears the universal khaki uniform with distinctive badges, viz., aviation pilots wear, on the right breast, an oval device of wings, propeller and sun's rays; members of aviation battalions wear a propeller across a steering wheel in the form of a gilt badge on the right collar patch, the number of the battalion being on the left patch.
Switzerland.—The flying corps wears the universal grey green uniform with two wings and a propeller in light-brown thread as a distinguishing badge.
Czechoslovakia.—The air arm wears the army universal light olive drab cloth with distinctive sky-blue facings.
Poland.—As part of the army the members of the aviation arm wear the universal khaki uniform with yellow collar patches.
Yugoslavia.—As part of the army the air service wears the universal olive-yellow service dress with horizon blue collar patches.
Baltic States.—The Estonian air service wears the universal greenish hairy khaki uniform with the following distinctions: a badge of wings and propeller in the form of a shield, silver braid for officers and white metal for other ranks, worn on the arm. The Latvian air force wears a black uniform with red cap, collar patch and piping, and the Lithuanian a greenish khaki uniform with black velvet collar patch and cap and dark red piping.
(T. J. E.) Great Britain.—The dress of seafarers in the British Isles had attained a certain uniformity, principally brought about by the conditions and hazards of their calling, long before any regula tions were made on the subject. Chaucer's description of the attire of the Shipman depicts a figure he had doubtless seen many times at Dartmouth, or in the streets of London in the neighbourhood of Bankside and the Pool. A sea gown of "fald ing," reaching to the knee, a homely garment of rusty blue or brown, intended to stand hard usage, was long worn by seamen. In a book on costume by Caesare Vecellio, published in Venice in 1598, a full-length figure of an English mariner is shown, and the legend states that they wore short coats, sky blue, white, or some other colour, wide baggy breeches with many folds, and ruffs round their necks. Their caps were hairy, like those that pilgrims wore. Such expressions as a "sea gown," a "pitch'd jacket," and a "canvas shrowd," as synonyms for sailors' wear, are common in Tudor and Stuart literature.
An important step leading to uniformity in the dress of the seaman was taken in 1628, when an order for the provision of ready-made clothing was given. Certain articles of attire were
placed on board his Majesty's ships and hired vessels for issue to the officers and men, the cost to be charged against their wages. In 1638, an order for the prevention of over-charging was hung up in the steerage of every ship, and a list of the articles to be sold, with their prices. In 1663, the slop clothing included canvas suits, red caps, blue shirts, red or striped breeches, and blue neck-cloths, among the articles for sale. From 1706 until about 175o, the slop clothing consisted of grey kersey jackets, waistcoats of striped ticking or Welsh red, breeches of red kersey or striped shag, blue and white check shirts, grey stockings, shoes, and leather caps, faced with red cotton, or flat-topped three cornered hats.
From the middle of the eighteenth century, when blue and white became the colours of the officers' uniform, the dress of the seamen gradually conformed to the same combination. It comprised usually a blue jacket, a scarlet or buff waistcoat, a check or striped shirt, white or striped trousers "long in the legs and taut at the hips and ankles," a kerchief, black or brightly coloured, tied loosely round the neck with two corners hanging down outside the jacket behind to protect it from the chafe of the pigtail, the vogue of which was only from about 178o to 183o. The round hat was made of straw, leather, or tarred can vas, turned up at the sides with a coloured lining, and a ribbon with the name of the ship painted on it. The strips of canvas sometimes sewn on the seams of the jacket were only to repair and strengthen old and used garments, as Jonas Hanway wrote in 1759, and not as ornamentation. After the first quarter of the nineteenth century, nearly all colours except blue had disappeared for all articles but waistcoats and kerchiefs.
In 1787, a uniform for all officers was established, and re mained in force until 1795, when, to commemorate Lord Howe's victory of June I, 1794, gold epaulettes hanging down like tassels, with marks on them to indicate rank, were introduced. At the same time, the white facings were abolished, with one exception, the patch on the midshipman's collar. Nearly all the later portraits of Nelson and those of his band of brothers are in the full or undress of these regulations. In 1812, white facings were re-introduced, and this dress was worn during the War with the United States. New regulations were issued on Janu ary I, 1825, with plans, which may be seen in the Admiralty Library. Since this date, regulations have been published in the Navy List, where the changes to the present time may be traced. The most important was made by William IV., who in 1832 al tered the facings from white to red, and so they remained until June 3o, 1843. Queen Victoria then restored white, and so it has remained ever since. Illustrated manuals of current naval uni forms were published by the Admiralty on May 7, 1879, and October 1 o, 1891. (X.)