Common uniform for brigadiers and above rank officers in Army

Source: The post is based on the article “Common uniform for brigadiers and above rank officers in Army” published in The Hindu on 11th May 2023

What is the News?

The Army has decided that brigadiers and above rank officers will have a common uniform irrespective of their parent cadre and appointment.

How will the uniforms worn by Senior Army officers change?

All officers of the rank of Brigadier, Maj General, Lt General, and General will now wear berets (caps) of the same colour, common badges of rank, a common belt buckle and a common pattern of shoes.

They will no longer wear regimental lanyards (cords) on their shoulders. They will also not wear any shoulder flashes like ‘Special Forces’, ‘Arunachal Scouts’, ‘Dogra Scouts’, etc.

Thus, there will be no item of uniform that will identify them as belonging to a particular Regiment or Corps. All officers of these higher ranks will dress alike in the same pattern of uniform.

What is the reason for making this change?

Regimental service in the Army ends at the rank of Colonel for most officers who rise further. Thus, all uniform affiliations with that particular Regiment or Corps must also end at that rank, so that any regimental parochialism that may exist is not promoted to the higher ranks.

Is this the first time that this is being done?

The Army is now reverting to the practice that was followed almost 40 years ago, when the changes towards wearing regimental affiliations took hold in the service.

Until about the mid-1980s, the regimental service was till the rank of Lt Colonel. Officers of the rank of Colonel and above had common uniform patterns and insignia. Colonels and Brigadiers shed their regimental insignia and wore the Ashoka emblem on their cap badges. The colour of the beret was khaki.