The enlisted man in the United States army has a khaki or olive-drab service uniform, a blue dress uniform, a fatigue uniform of blue denim and in some cases a white uniform. The facings of the dress uniform and the hat-cord of the service hat are of the corps color, which are blue for the infantry, yellow for the cav alry, red for the artillery, red and white for the engineers, orange and white for the signal corps, maroon and white for the medical corps, straw-color for the quartermaster corps, red and black for the ordnance corps and green for the service school detachments. The officers' uniforms, besides service, dress and white uni forms much like those of the enlisted men, are the full dress, the special evening dress and the mess jackets, worn on special occasions. The history of the uniforms of the United States army lends itself into a division into periods separated by the various wars in which the United States has taken a part. During the American Revolution the uniforms were governed by no particular principle, if the troops were so lucky as to be uniformed at all. After the end of the Revolution, the French uniforms were taken as a pattern and blue was made the color of the infantry and artillery uniforms, which were faced with white. Soon afterward, when cavalry regiments were raised. they were similarly uniformed, first in green with white facings and then in green with black facings. These uniforms survived in a more or less modified form until the War of 1812 when the sudden influx of large numbers of variously equipped militia made the re-establish ment of a definite uniform desirable. The French model • was again adopted, with dark blue coatees and white or light-blue breeches or trousers. From the Mexican War to the begin ning of the Civil War the uniform consisted of a long coat and trousers, with a shako or slouch hat. The corps colors were adopted at this period, in a form not widely divergent from that of the present day. The Civil War uni versalized the service or undress uniform of blue, light in the coat and dark in the trousers. This again mimicked the uniform of the French, but after 1870 the success of the Germans caused the cut of the uniforms and the spiked helmets to be modeled after those of the Ger mans. For service the slouch hat and leggings were worn. The uniform was found to be un suited for active service in the Spanish War and was replaced by one of khaki. After the war this color was retained for the service uniform, which was patterned after that of the British. The dress uniform retains the original blue color.
The British dress uniforms are perhaps the most varied and gorgeous of those of any country in the world. Their general color is red, though certain rifle regiments, etc., form exceptions. They are faced with the color of the regiment. The khaki field-service uniforms much resemble those of the United States, ex cept for the pleated pockets and the collar, which is box-cut for the officers and turns over in the uniforms of the enlisted men. Rolled leggings known as puttees are used. While this uniform is practically the same throughout the army, the Highland Scotch regiments retain their tartan kilts, though they cover these with a khaki apron. The present field-service uni form dates back to the Boer War of 1899-1902.
Blue coats and red trousers make up the dress uniform of most French soldiers and be fore the European War were worn on active service. The long coat of the infantryman with its bottom corners buttoned back is char acteristically French. The European War has caused the French uniform — particularly that of the officers — to be assimilated to that of the British. The color, however, is light blue.
The Italian infantryman wears a dark blue tunic, gray trousers and a cloth shako. In the cavalry the trousers are replaced by breeches and the shako by a busby in lancer regiments and a helmet in dragoons. The Bersaglieri wear
a broad-brimmed felt hat with a plume of cock's feathers. The service uniform is brown ish gray.
Before the collapse of Russia in 1917 the uniform was in general green in color and in the infantry consisted of a large peaked cap, a loose blouse, trousers and high boots. The facings varied with the regiments. The cavalry wore blue or green coats with gray breeches. Cossack and Siberian regiments wore high sheep-skin caps. The field service uniform was of a khaki color.
The general color of the German dress in fantry tunics is Prussian blue, except in Bavaria, where it is light blue. The trousers ara black and the facings vary with the different regiments. The head-dress on some occasions is a brimmed or brimless cap, on others a spiked helmet. The tunics of rifle regiments are green and they wear shakos. Cuirassiers wear metal helmets and white tunics. The tunics of uhlans and dragoons are blue and their helmets are made of leather. The several regiments of hus sars wear helmets of different colors and their head-dress is a busby of brown fur. Engineer and artillery uniforms are entirely blue. The field uniform is a brownish gray. The ordinary head-dress is retained but covered by a gray cover. The Austrian tunic is generally dark blue, except that rifle regiments and engineers wear gray, while the artillery wears brown. The infantry wears light blue trousers, except in rifle regiments, where gray trousers are worn. Gray trousers are also worn by engineers. Mounted troops wear red breeches. The in fantry head-dress is a shako. Hungarian uni forms arc patterned after the Austrian with the exception that elaborate braiding is used on the trousers. The field-service color of Austria Hungary is bluish gray and a special gray cap is worn, except in cavalry regiments, which use their ordinary head-dress, protected by a gray cover.
Other countries incline as a rule either to the German or the French model of uniform. The French influence preponderates in Switzer land Holland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Ru mania, Greece, Brazil and Argentina. The uni forms of the -Scandinavian countries, Turkey and Chile are German in cut, Serbia combines French and Austrian influence, while the uni forms of Bulgaria are distinctly Russian. The British influence is preponderant in many field service uniforms, such as those of China, Japan, Greece and the United States. China and Mexico have borrowed to some extent from the United States, while the Cuban uniforms re semble the American ones very closely.
Naval uniforms are much the same through out the world. The British naval uniform, after which all others have been patterned, con sists for the men of a jumper or overshirt of the familiar navy pattern, bell-shaped trousers and a `pancakes cap, with a ribbon indicating the ship to which its bearer belongs. The blue undress or service uniform of the British offi cer consists of a peaked cap, a double-breasted coat with brass buttons and blue serge trousers. There are various mess and dress uniforms. The American uniforms closely resemble the British, except that in the officers' blue service dress a braid-trimmed blouse is worn instead of a coat. The Russian sailors wear a military tunic when on shore duty. In the German navy the cap-ribbons are very long and a jacket with many buttons is worn over the overshirt. (For the insignia of rank in the various armies and navies of the world, see MILITARY INSIG Nra OF RANK). Consult the publications of the War and Navy Departments of the various governments and Detaille, 'L'Armee (Paris 1889) ; id., 'Catalogue illustre de l'ex position retrospective militaire du ministiere de la (ib. 1890) ; Farmer, J. S., 'Regi mental Records) (London) ; Knotel, R., 'Hand buch der (Leipzig 1896) ; Lienhardt and Humbert, 'Les uniformes de l'armee Ogden, H. A., 'Uniforms of the Army of the United States, (Washington 1908).