Uniforms of Themiclesian armed forces

This page catalogues the uniforms of Themiclesian armed forces. Early Themiclesian military bodies rarely possessed distinctive clothing, as state-issued body armour usually identified its wearer. After the obsolescence of armour, the government sometimes mandated certain emblems be used, though most soldiers and sailors had to supply their own clothes. Casaterran-style uniforms were introduced in the early 19th century, and dress uniforms since have followed Casaterran social norms. In more recent times, efforts have been made to standardize battle equipment and clothing for effectiveness and economy, though dress uniforms tend to be peculiar to the unit, more so if it had a long history or distinct role.

Terminology

Themiclesian armed forces use the same terminology as civilians to describe levels of formality in various uniform styles. Generally, there is only one uniform described as full dress applicable to any serviceperson, while there could be several half dresses and undresses. Note that this terminology strictly describes formality from a civilian perspective and does not describe how these forms of dress may be used for internal functions. In the 19th century, military uniforms switched to the Casaterran style and followed civilian standards of formality very strictly, creating little need to stipulate equivalencies between them; however, as they diverged at the start of the 20th, such stipulations were formalized.  

Degrees of formality

• Full dress (具服, kjoh-bjek): literally "full dress", a chance similarity between Tyrannian and Shinasthana terms. For those with rights to attend court, it is also called court dress (朝服, trjaw-bjek). Full dress, by convention, is equivalent to the white tie worn by civilians. Full dress in conservative units almost always include a tail coat, waistcoat, and cravat of some kind, with shirt collars worn standing up. In more liberal ones, a full dress is simply the most formal dress code endorsed. While elaborate decorations were once common on full dress uniforms, these became uncommon by the end of Queen Catherine's reign (r. 1837 – 1901). Austerity had become the standing order of civilian men's wear, compelling the military to conform. Today, for units that issue a full dress, they typically reflect the fashionable near-black colours of this period, with lapel pins and non-contrasting ornamentation on the waistcoat remaining acceptable.
• Half dress (從省服, dzjong-srjêng′-bjek): lit. "reduced dress". Half dress is considered equal to civilian frock coat or morning coat during day time and dinner jacket at evenings. In conservative branches, a frock coat may remain in use and be called a frock coat (西長表, sner-ntrjang-prjaw), but this is now the exception rather than the norm. The Themiclesian Air Force led the forces in recognizing the blazer as a half dress in the 1950s, since frock coats, morning coats, and dinner jackets became antiquated in the civilian world at this time. Formerly, a half-dress required a knee-length skirt for men and ankle-length one for women, as a rule of thumb.
• Undress (褻服, sngrjat-bjek): anything which does not categorize into the two above.

Underlying history

The concept of uniforms in Themiclesia was not most represented by the armed forces, but by the civil service and aristocracy. The early Themiclesian state did not have a standing army; when one was raised, its officers were filled by bureaucrats, most of whom had an aristocratic background, and the ranks were formed by peasants on levy, who had no uniforms. Conversely, since civil servants were both socially distinguished and possessed public authority, it became necessary for them to dress to express their status. On one hand, they dressed to express power derived from the crown, and to denote positions relative to each other within the hierarchy. Several types of hats, sashes, and seals were used to mark some parts of civil servants' symbolic capital to this end. However, these markers of rank co-existed with the need for self-expression, which represented civil servants' financial and cultural capital and personal prestige as aristocrats, outside of the hierarchy of public officialdom. Even though it is possible to speak of a "uniform" for civil servants, very few elements of it were uniform across the civil service; hats, sashes, and seals were symbols of difference, not similarity. Indeed, nothing in terms of form that a civil servant wears was forbidden from laymen; only specific designs were reserved. Civil servants wear tsjin-gin-korh (a type of coronet), and so could laymen, as long as it had no arches; civil servants wore sashes to hold their seals of office, and so could laymen, as long as the sashes were not colourful.

General trends

The adoption of Casaterran-style military uniforms occurred piecemeal and over centuries; it was not accomplished by fiat but was motivated by multiple factors. The central government showed little interest for military uniforms, requiring them only to provide warmth, and such an attitude fostered a great variety of uniforms during the 19th century. In broad terms, the first rule is that the more active against Casaterrans the unit, the earlier it adopted Casaterran-style uniforms; the South Army, formerly the Colonial Army, consistently fighting Hallians, Sieuxerrians, Ostlandics, and Tyrannians, adopted Casaterran elements in their dress as early as the 16th century. The navy, which engaged its Casaterran counterparts during the same period, followed suit in 1810. Conversely, ethnic units in Themiclesia's vast interior, who almost never saw Casaterrans in combat, would not adopt until the 1920s. The second trend is that the more urban the unit's garrison, the more readily it accepted Casaterran uniforms. The Capital Defence Force, which did not fight Casaterrans until 1795, transitioned in 1813. It was garrisoned in Kien-k'ang, where Casaterran attire would have been usual. In contrast, rural militia units were seen in traditional attire as late as the 1880s; Casaterran attire would have been comparatively rare there. Lastly, commercial gain also motivated tailors to offer their business to military units; long-term contracts were highly sought-after for their predictability with respect to materials needed and custom volume; the Marines initially adopted their new uniforms for this reason.

The very concept of a military uniform was also not universally known in Themiclesia. The militias, in particular, have always required its members to furnish their clothing; while few regulations existed, militiamen understandably selected hard-wearing, economical fabrics in cuts easily repaired in the field. Only on long-term deployments would the state intervene and provide fabrics for patches or replacements. In contrast, dressing beyond physiological requirement was considered a privilege for higher social classes, who could afford artisanal fabrics and professional seamsters. Themiclesia's first purpose-issued military uniform evolved out of prison uniforms, since the Colonial Army was once a penal unit severed from both their families and domestic economy; ironically, the black clothes, once a criminal's stigma, later symbolized its fraternity. On the other hand, the gentry were well-aware of the rules of polite society, which dictated that certain markers of rank and themes be observed on occasion. The Capital Defence Force, for example, adopted its uniforms to demonstrate their value to the public, wearing uniforms at public expense. Thus, for some units, their uniforms represented their condition as social outcasts, while for others, they represented pretensions to gentry and respectability. In neither case was there a co-ordinated, conscious policy to create unit identity, but in both cases it was successfully created by divergent means.

Land forces

Themiclesian land forces started to assumed their modern structure under the Army Acts of 1921. While fiscal and operational unity was achieved by the start of the Pan-Septentrion War, Conservatives have generally opposed attempts to consolidate the army beyond the fiscal and operational aspect, preferring to allow each component to retain a measure of symbolic independence. This is most clearly reflected in the dress uniforms of the army, which still vary by region, regiment, and department. Today, the army can be divided into four parts—the Consolidated Army, the Reserve Army, the Territorial Forces, and the Militias. The Consolidated Army, the main standing army, and the Reserve Army are both administered by the central government, and they share the same set of uniforms for the most part. The Territorial Forces are units raised, with parliamentary approval, by ethnic minorities groups sharing in the defence of the nation, and these possess distinct uniforms, though their activities, some statutory exceptions aside, are also co-ordinated centrally. The Militias are nominally under prefectural administration, though modern administrative rules require central permission to most local action on them. Each prefecture establishes uniforms for its militias.

Consolidated and Reserve Army

The Consolidated Army (聯兵, rjên-prjang) issues uniforms to units that do not issue their own uniforms. The ex-units of the Capital Defence Force, South Army, and Royal Signals Corps, plus those established by statute before 1921, each issue uniforms in their particular styles. Units established under the Consolidated Army do not possess this power. Since 1921, a number of units have conformed to the army's standard patterns, though others retain distinctive attire as a point of pride. The field uniform of 1922, following the TAF's blazer, consisted of a jacket, trousers, shirt, tie, cap, and shoes. Branch affiliation and rank were indicated through insignia located on caps, lapels, and collars. Notably, this was considered an undress uniform, indicating that full- and half-dress uniforms may have been meant as regimental uniforms once the new units develop their histories; however, in 1938, the field uniform was re-classified as half-dress, as combat fatigues were introduced to every unit (regardless of status) in the field. Between 1936 and 1938, friendly fire ensued when conscript units failed to recognize some of the less-frequently seen uniforms and engaged them. This gradually became less frequent, as pamphlets illustrating "friendly" uniforms were widely circulated.

The Consolidated Army hesitated to alter these units' uniforms, as they were also the most effective during the early war and because Parliament believed these changes were unimportant. After the war, the Consolidated Army faced criticism from allies confused by its uniforms.

The Reserve Army (聯戲, rjên-ng′jar)...

Territorial Forces

The Territorial Forces (方兵, pjang-prjang)...

Militias

The Militias (郡兵, ′k.ljur-prjang; 邦兵, prong-prjang)...

Naval forces

As with militias, Themiclesia's navy traditionally required its members to prepare their own clothing, with few regulations as to what it might look like. The navy was responsible only as far as providing the fabrics out of which sailors usually made their own clothes. The earliest Casaterran-style naval uniforms were not uniforms in the modern sense, but a dress code with fairly loose standards. In 1810, officers and men were ordered to dress in a blue tail coat, white waistcoat, and trousers; as pictorial evidence demonstrates, any blue coat with tails in the Casaterran style was acceptable, mutatis mutandi. It was evidently also acceptable to add private clothing to the ensemble, as the custom became to add a woollen jacket over the waistcoat and under the overcoat; as this article was not formally regulated, it was frequently used as a canvas for a crew to identify sartorially with their craft. A uniform appearance was not initially sought. Sailors and marines were also not formally distinguished by dress code, but due to their different working environments and sartorial inclinations, it soon took on customs of its wearers and bifurcated. Indeed, the naval dress code of 1810 was not amended until 1905, when illustrations were promulgated to standardize the appearance of naval costumes.

Consolidated Fleet

The dress code of 1810 having been adopted, sailors sought to preserve the more costly overcoat and waistcoat, it become typical only to wear the shirt, necktie, and jacket on normal duty. Though this was ostensibly against dress code, it was tacitly permitted due to the sheer expense of tailoring. Early portraits show sailors with closed collars and neatly-tied neckcloths, but by 1830 this had become uncommon. Perhaps under Casaterran influence, sailors began to fasten their neckties loosely, which allowed shirt collars to open and flap down over their shoulders. Around 1840, commentators remarked how much of a sailors could be seen unclothed, provoking the Admiralty to require sailors to fasten their neckties and wear a frock coat when publicly engaged. This ordinance evidently had little effect, since neckcloths grew only looser through the decade. By 1850, the neckcloth was similar in function to a scarf, and the bow was abandoned for a four-in-hand knot. It is not clear why sailors preferred this knot, but it is possible that loops on a bow was seen as a hazard with the rigging. In the 1905 uniform update, the obsolete tail coat was withdrawn for enlisted men, though officers were still expected to supply their own tail coats for formal functions.

Marines

For marines, the dress code of 1810 survives as the full dress uniform, used for formal functions. As their duties soiled clothing less, marines generally followed dress code more closely than sailors, resulting in a more conservative appearance. Styling of the jacket and waistcoat has also varied through the ages. In the early 1800s, the waistcoat was worn with collars up, and in the late 1800s, with collars rolled. The woollen jacket worn by sailors is shared by marines in sleeveless form; for those on ships, the jacket bears the crew's insigne, and those on land, regimental insigne. That it remain visible, the dress coat was never buttoned. In 1837, marines were ordered to wear a blue frock coat for duties on shore and drilling. But for ceremonies, it remains proper to wear the tail coat, even during day. Civilian fashions became increasingly influential on military attire the late 19th century, inducing the blue dress and frock coats to darken gradually until basically black. Embroidery, metal buttons, medals, and insigia were all purged from full dress by 1880, as the wearing of any colour except black became socially undignifying. The only ornament that remained acceptable was a small lapel-pin, which Marines officers wore in the shape of a globe, as on their emblem. The woollen jacket and necktie, once rich with such ornaments, also became pure white in formal occasions.

Aerial forces

The uniforms of the Themiclesian Air Force were revolutionary in the domestic military sphere that it was designed without direct reference to civilian propriety. Every other set of uniforms, thus far, had been designed to conform to civilian standards, since soldiers and sailors were expected to wear their uniforms to civilian functions.

Aviators

The initial pattern of the Air Force dress uniforms was heavily influenced by the Tyrannian Royal Air Force, which showed influence from the Royal Army. It consisted a shirt with fold-down collars, necktie, trousers, suspenders, belt, Sam Browne belt, waistcoat, and overcoat, the latter two with standing, closed collars. The trousers were deep, greyish-blue with a bold indigo stripe on the sides, with a slight blouse where it tucked into boots. The waistcoat and overcoat were both "air force teal", a creamy teal colour so-called due to its ubiquity on Air Force uniforms. The collars on the overcoat were a slightly deeper hue of the same colours. Aviators wore black, knee-length boots, with the top two inches customarily folded down for tighter fit.

Sartorial editor M′rjang wrote that this forced the boot to hug the contours of the wearer's calf muscles, which created a sharper and "literally more muscular" appearance that was intentional. Some historians believed that early Air Force leaders were overidingly concerned with predatory War and Navy Ministries hoping to annex the Air Force, leading it to adopt an aggressive and impactful style that broadcasted its independence from either, whose uniforms were both characterized by following civilian fashions. This is evinced from the fact that the Air Force's most formal uniforms did not have tails—a rejection of civilian ideas about formality. The Sam Browne belt was worn by aviators, who carried pistols for self-defence; this became a source of envy from other services, which were ordinarily not permitted to carry any weapon off duty.

The TAF led Themiclesian forces to adopt the branch blazer as a half-dress uniform in the early 20th century. While unit characteristics, decorations, and badges had all but been purged from formal dress codes to conform to civilian sartorial norms in the late 19th century, the forces in general sought to transfer their insignia onto garments in ways that would not conflict with those. Land forces typically used embroidery or double weaving to replace the colour contrasts lost on waistcoats, which were expected to be pure white by 1880. While this was socially permissible, it was also costly and generated discontent within the ranks that were commanded to purchase them. The TAF, after encountering resistance in a more colourful dress uniform, co-opted the fashion of informal blazers that were common for clubs and sports teams of the day. In 1921, the TAF hosted the first inter-service sports tournament and commanded attending officers to appear in a uniform blazer. This idea soon spread as blazers were sufficiently informal that unit insignia and decorations could be worn in full colour without stirring social condescension. In the 50s, this blazer was then legitimated as a working uniform for the TAF.

See also

• Themiclesia