Rank Insignia and Uniforms Thread

[Tiro]

May I please ask if this is the proper place to request advice about uniforms that might have been?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Corps

^^ I've been more than a little fascinated by the idea of a Commonwealth formation equipped by the United States and wondered if any enthusiast could point me the direction of visuals references for that sort of thing; I know that the Free French still wore their own insignia on US gear (as well as their own headgear, where available) and wondered if the Commonwealth Corps would do the same. ^^


Also, I read in THE ARMED FORCES OF WORLD WAR II that the Italian Social Republic published regulations for a 'Germanised' uniform and wondered if anyone on the net could point me in the direction of pictures or a more detailed write-up of that look? It struck me that THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE might see Italy wear such a look and one would be very grateful for any assistance, were it to be offered.

Thank You in advance for your consideration!

 

[Tiro]

I've been reading up on FOR WANT OF A NAIL and have been pondering what rank insignia for the Confederation of North America might look like; while it's somewhat unimaginative, it occurred to me that one quick way of fixing up a 'United States meets Canada' insignia would be to take the oak leaf from the US Army Major/Lieutenant Colonel insignia and replacing the maple leaf on Canadian insignia with it.

As I said, quick and dirty, but it does seem fairly plausible.

 

[Marc Pasquin]

May I please ask if this is the proper place to request advice about uniforms that might have been?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Corps

^^ I've been more than a little fascinated by the idea of a Commonwealth formation equipped by the United States and wondered if any enthusiast could point me the direction of visuals references for that sort of thing; I know that the Free French still wore their own insignia on US gear (as well as their own headgear, where available) and wondered if the Commonwealth Corps would do the same. ^^

Polish, czech and other troops who went to the UK after their country fell often adopted the british battle dress but continued wearing their own insignias so likewise you would more than likely have commonwealth soldiers wear US combat uniforms with integral commonwealth insignias. The fact that the unit would have been of Corps size means that only their top officers would have to interact with US officers regularly so that there would be no need to adopt US style insignia for ease of recognition.

These polish soldiers for example only really differ from british soldiers of the time by their insignias including the eagle on their helmet/cap and the "poland" shoulder title:

You could obviously decide to go a more creative way if you wanted and have the commonwealth corps adopt the full US dress code only changing symbols that are too specifically linked to US traditions. For example:

US flag on shoulder -> UK, Canadian, etc... flag
colonel eagle insignia -> lion
pilot wing's US shield and star -> shield-shaped union jack and crown
US coat of arms on visor cap -> Royal Coat of Arms
etc.......

 

[Marc Pasquin]

Also, I read in THE ARMED FORCES OF WORLD WAR II that the Italian Social Republic published regulations for a 'Germanised' uniform and wondered if anyone on the net could point me in the direction of pictures or a more detailed write-up of that look?

This could be a reference to the "Italian Legion" which ended the war as the "29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Italian)". They wore integral Waffen-SS uniforms but most sewn patches were on a red rather than black background, all german eagles present on badges were replaced with eagles holding a fasces as on the national flag of the Italian Social Republic and the SS collar runes were replaced with various other patterns depending on dates (plain black, plain red, with a fasces, etc....)

These should give you an idea, italian on the left, german on the right:

 

[Tiro]

Paquin, thank you very kindly for sharing these with me; I'm afraid that only one of the comparison pictures in the post above (the German jacket) is showing, though I do appreciate your pointing me in the right direction towards this Italian Legion - I am also extremely grateful for your suggestions r.e. the Commonwealth Corps (I remember thinking that the Canadian troops engaged alongside US forces in the Aleutian campaign would be a useful reference & precedent - one vaguely recalls their being issued with US uniform - but I have yet to track down a useful illustration of those stalwart sons of the Great White North).

You could obviously decide to go a more creative way if you wanted and have the commonwealth corps adopt the full US dress code only changing symbols that are too specifically linked to US traditions.

Personally I tend to favour US uniform & equipment, but Commonwealth insignia & headwear (so far as that is available); I wonder what badge this particular corps would have used? (I don't believe the Commonwealth of Nations flag was in use until the 1970s; perhaps one could 'call forward' to it with a Blue Ensign with a Gold 'C' on it?).

 

[Tiro]

Thank You again for your help and for your suggestions!

 

[Marc Pasquin]

Paquin, thank you very kindly for sharing these with me; I'm afraid that only one of the comparison pictures in the post above (the German jacket) is showing,

second try:

Personally I tend to favour US uniform & equipment, but Commonwealth insignia & headwear (so far as that is available); I wonder what badge this particular corps would have used? (I don't believe the Commonwealth of Nations flag was in use until the 1970s; perhaps one could 'call forward' to it with a Blue Ensign with a Gold 'C' on it?).

At the time, the Royal Coat of Arms would probably be considered the most appropriate symbol as it was used in all Commonwealth realms in some fashion.

Another thought, use the logo of the British Empire & Commonwealth Game but without the letters. The Symbolism, countries from the 5 continents united under s single crown, would make just as a much sense. Might want to put a wreath of oak around the whole to make it more martial.

 

[Tiro]

Ah, thank you most kindly - I can see the two jackets clearly now and your British Empire & Commonwealth Games symbol is an excellent idea!

That Italo-German jacket is quite interest, as 'hybrid' uniforms tend to be (one of the most weirdly disconcerting images I've seen today depicts a suit of British battle dress converted to serve some U-Boat crewman of the German Kriegsmarine; apparently quite a few British uniforms were picked up after Dunkirk & handed over to the tender mercies of the Third Reich's undersea fleet, which is so perfect an inversion of their original purpose as to border on the Wilfully Perverse*); it is particularly interesting to note what appears to be a First World War campaign medal on the right of the medal 'rack' (suggesting that this fellow began his career fighting for the WWI Entente, then moved on to making war on the WWII Allied Powers).

*In all fairness, issuing that stuff to the German ARMY might rather risk 'friendly fire' incidents, to say the least.

 

[Tiro]

Thank You very kindly once again M. Pasquin!

 

[Tiro]

I stumbled onto this while researching the Occupation of Japan in Our History (a formation patch associated with the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces); thought it might work as well for the Commonwealth Corps as it did for their counterparts!

Now all I need do is work out what sort of Uniforms the US Army might be expected to wear during the Invasion of Japan.

 

[Marc Pasquin]

Now all I need do is work out what sort of Uniforms the US Army might be expected to wear during the Invasion of Japan.

I would assume the same as was worn by the US soldiers during the war in the pacific:

 

[Tiro]

I actually have THE ARMED FORCES OF WORLD WAR II right above me on the shelf as I type this!

 

[Tiro]

Thank You again for all your help Mr Pasquin.

 

[Laqueesha]

An alternate history medal: The Estonian Campaign Medal, which was awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense to U.S. military personnel who served in Estonia during World War III. Green symbolizes Baltic landscapes, whereas white, black, and blue are the colors of the Estonian flag. The recipient must have served in the Republic of Estonia or its territorial waters for a period of 30 consecutive days. If killed, injured, or participated in active combat before that time, the time requirement is waived and the medal is awarded automatically.

Ribbon bar (actual width 35mm) with one bronze star, denoting single campaign phase:

Full-sized medal (in center), obverse and reverse, flanked for comparison by some other campaign medals I made up:

 

[Color-Copycat]

View of the Texacoran coastal defense line at Port Wagner from the communications trench position of Company E, 7th Heartland Militia Regiment (The Apache Fusiliers), Hudson's Independent Militia Brigade. In the foreground from right to left stand a brevet first lieutenant, a corporal, and three privates of the Apache Fusiliers.

In addition to freeing up the bulk of the regular regiments for extended length deployments in the colonial north, the militia's service in garrison duty has also tremendously relieved the strain on the Texacoran Quartermaster Corps's perpetually overtaxed logistical network. The militia regiments largely provide their own homegrown food and are content to receive secondhand or obsolete arms and armor. Indeed, few among the militiamen possess any sort of modern ceramsteel ballistic armor, instead trusting to the strength of their field fortifications and entrenchments to shield them from enemy fire should the threat of full scale war with the Kommersant arise. Even the smartly painted helmets of the militiamen are simply common stamped-steel copies of the forged ceramsteel originals worn by their counterparts in the regular regiments. Offering moderate protection only against glancing shrapnel hits, the much derided "tin pots" are often clipped to the belt by carefree militiamen, who prefer the more comfortable enlisted man's forage cap or officer's slouch hat for everyday headwear, or painted with unique personal markings by those yeoman farmsteaders who believe in the superstitious effect of lucky charms.

In field uniforms as well, the militiaman often lags a full generation behind the smartly dressed regulars of the Texacoran field regiments. Many veteran militiamen still proudly wear the blue-grey trousers of the old battle dress, since phased out for a subdued khaki in regular service and bright khaki in militia service, as the striking image of the "Blueleg" militiaman is inextricably tied to the glories of the last War Between the Fleets. Boot gaiters, only now regaining favor in the regular field regiments, never went out of style in the "backwards" militia regiments, and many militia officers still sport uniforms and rank insignia bearing the old branch-of-service colors, which were updated after the last War Between the Fleets to eliminate the distinction between the hereditary officer corps and the enlisted citizen-soldiery of each branch.

The last visible difference between the Texacoran militiaman and his regular counterpart lies in the absence of the iconic mameluke saber among the ranks of the former's officers. The famous curved saber is a revered symbol of the Texacoran hereditary officer corps, and is issued to every graduate of the Texacoran War College to commemorate the ancient ICA Aerospace Marine tradition from which the aristocracy of the Texacoran nation claims descent. However, as a concession to the democratic and egalitarian sensibilities of the Texacoran enlisted yeomanry, militia officers are prohibited from wearing the saber as a badge of rank and must content themselves with the ancient Eagle, Globe, and Anchor emblem as their only visible token of aristocratic descent.

 

[X_Eaglefrost_X]

snip

First, this is spectacular. The uniforms look great, the flag in the background and the insignia look great, this is amazing.
You might've already considered this, but generally you don't want different field hats for officers and ORs. It makes it too easy to pick out officers for snipers and such. It's also why modern militaries don't salute out in the field.
Although, given the attitude of the militia, they might not care too much about that.

Sidenote: That's an interesting structure you have there at the top, Company -> Regiment -> Brigade.

 

[Color-Copycat]

First, this is spectacular. The uniforms look great, the flag in the background and the insignia look great, this is amazing.
You might've already considered this, but generally you don't want different field hats for officers and ORs. It makes it too easy to pick out officers for snipers and such. It's also why modern militaries don't salute out in the field.
Although, given the attitude of the militia, they might not care too much about that.

Sidenote: That's an interesting structure you have there at the top, Company -> Regiment -> Brigade.

In combat, all ranks would be wearing their more or less identical steel helmets out of necessity, and this scene is showing a quiet section of the line where no combat is ever likely to take place. And as noted, the militia is very blase about maintaining rigorous discipline even in the field. In some of the previous illustrations that depict regulars in combat, the officers are only visibly distinguishable from the enlisted ranks by their rank insignia and choice of sidearms.

I truncated the description of the unit structure, since in this faction, the battalion is just an ad hoc unit of maneuver, whereas companies and regiments (and sometimes even brigades and divisions) are generally inflexible in their composition and retain a distinct esprit de corps and unit tradition.

 

[WhiteDragon25]

...Wait, we have one of these threads? I honestly didn't know that. Huh... well, now that I'm aware of it, would it be okay if I shared some Star Wars-themed stuff I made for the Galactic Empire? I mean, I've been on a trend of doing Star Wars-themed flags lately in the Flag Thread, so... why not do the same here?

 

[Marc Pasquin]

...Wait, we have one of these threads? I honestly didn't know that. Huh... well, now that I'm aware of it, would it be okay if I shared some Star Wars-themed stuff I made for the Galactic Empire? I mean, I've been on a trend of doing Star Wars-themed flags lately in the Flag Thread, so... why not do the same here?

sci-fi insignias and uniforms have been posted in the past so it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[WhiteDragon25]

sci-fi insignias and uniforms have been posted in the past so it shouldn't be an issue.

Good to know. So, with that out of the way, here's my complete revamp of the Imperial Military Rank Structure (Parts 1 and 2):

Part 1 here being what I started out with first, working on (columns from left to right) the Imperial Navy, Imperial Army, Imperial Intelligence, Regional Administration, and the Imperial Security Bureau, the Stormtrooper Corps and Starfighter Corps not included here as I had yet to come up with a satisfactory color scheme at the time.

I sorted the color scheme here according to branch, then sorted the ranks according to ascending number of color squares; additionally, the background colors of each section also represent branch uniforms: Blue squares represent Navy, Gold squares represent Army, Red squares represent Intelligence, Dark Grey/Onyx squares represent Regional Administration, and Medium Grey+Light Grey squares represent ISB.

The rank plaques containing color squares of different branches represent the ability of those ranks to call upon the resources of their counterpart branches: Grand Admirals, Grand Generals, and the Director of Imperial Intelligence can all request or requisition any units, task forces, or other materiel they may require should the need arise; likewise, Regional Administrators can also call upon Navy or Army assets for assistance if necessary, however the forces available to them is limited to the scope of their authority (Planetary Governors can only request Navy/Army assets within their home system/planet, the same with Sector Moffs with assets within their Sectors, while Grand Moffs have the widest purview in that they can request assets from every Sector within their Oversector). Grand Admirals/Generals and the Director of Intelligence have no such limitations regarding jurisdiction, and thus can command any fleets, armies, or other military assets across multiple Oversectors. The ISB, on the other hand, has carte blanche in regards to investigation powers over the other branches; there is however the unconventional ranks of the ISB Special Agents, meant to carry out specific tasks or missions that require specialized skillsets.

The Ranks for the Regional Administration positions - Grand Moff, Sector Moff, and Planetary Governor - are simple enough to understand: Grand Moffs govern Oversectors, which are subdivided into Sectors governed by Sector Moffs, and the individual planets within those Sectors are governed by Planetary Governors. The the pure-onyx square ranks below the Reg-Admin box are more nebulous, as I hadn't quite fleshed them out yet, but they're generally meant to be corresponding adjutant positions for the aforementioned Admin ranks, and do not have the authority to call upon military services or assets; the two-square ranks with onyx+blue/gold/red squares are basically supposed to be liaison attaches meant to serve as direct/indirect links between the Reg-Admin authorities and the corresponding military branches.

As for the ranks of the Navy, Army, and Intelligence (divided between Navy and Army branches), they are as follows, from highest to lowest:

Grand Admiral	Grand General	Director of Imperial Intelligence	Director of Imperial Intelligence
Admiral	General	Director of Navy Intelligence	Director of Army Intelligence
Vice Admiral	Lieutenant General	Regional Branch Director (Navy)	Regional Branch Director (Army)
Rear Admiral	Major General	Admiral	General
Commodore	Brigadier General	Commander	Commander
Captain	Colonel	Captain	Captain
Commander	Major	Lieutenant	Lieutenant
Lieutenant Commander	Captain	Specialist	Specialist
Senior Lieutenant	Senior Lieutenant
Junior Lieutenant	Junior Lieutenant
Ensign	N/A [Name Pending]

The Imperial Security Bureau has their own separate set of ranks, which are as follows, again from highest to lowest:

Director of Imperial Security Bureau	Director of Imperial Security Bureau
ISB Deputy Director	Chief Inspector/Inspector-General
ISB Branch Director	Captain-Inspector
ISB Colonel	Lieutenant-Inspector
ISB Commander
ISB Lieutenant

Senior Special Agent (Navy Attache)	Senior Special Agent (Army Attache)	Senior Special Agent (Intelligence Attache)
Special Agent (Navy Attache)	Special Agent (Army Attache)	Special Agent (Intelligence Attache)

The ISB ranks are a bit of a special case in that the promotion path splits upon reaching the rank ISB Colonel: there are two options for advancement available - there's the standard route through the ISB's usual 'secret police' duties, and there's the Inspectorate, which deals in more actual investigative policing and protocol inspection. The ISB Special Agent ranks have already been explained earlier in the post, so I don't need to repeat it.

Part 2 is the Stormtrooper Corps and the Starfighter Corps (otherwise known as the Pilots), which I made at a later point in time to the previous layout above after some extensive brainstorming and experimentation with different colors and plaque designs:

The looong column on the left is for the Stormtrooper Corps, and the short column on the right is for Pilots, split into Navy Pilots and Army Pilots.

I haven't quite nailed down the exact naming scheme for the Stormtrooper Corps ranks yet, but what I have in mind for the highest two ranks are Allegiant General and General, with the lowest rank being Private. This time I actually accounted for enlisted and NCO ranks, something that was lacking in my previous attempt earlier in this post. Stormtroopers get their own separate rank structure from the Imperial Army due to being elite forces directly under the authority of the Emperor himself, so they get special treatment.

For the Pilot ranks, the naming scheme here is also a work in progress, but the basic structure is: Pilot --> Flight Lieutenant --> Squadron Captain --> Group Major --> Wing Commander. Wing Commanders are equivalent to Navy Commanders/Army Majors, and so are subordinate to Navy Captains/Army Colonels and up. Seeing as how starfighters are dependent on their motherships in space combat, and ground combat involves combined-arms warfare on a planetary scale, I saw no reason to develop a fully-independent "Air Force" rank structure, instead opting to make starfighters an integrated component to both the Navy and Army of the Imperial Military. Starfighter pilots and officers in both branches share the same rank structure, however, and can be transferred between each other easily, with merely a swap of the corresponding rank plaque being the only visible change.

The original posts for both of these rank structure redesigns can be found here and here over on Spacebattles (the content you see above having been copy+pasted from there).