More about the uniform…

The officer’s summer each day shirtsleeve uniform highlighted the growing acceptance of causal uniforms in the Soviet military in the 1960’s.  Prior to this period, no naval uniform had authorized the wearing of the shirt without a jacket.

Article 143 of the 1969 regulations state that “it is permitted to wear the shirt in summer time with a tie and epaulets, without the jacket, for everyday wear outdoors.” (3)  The uniform was also allowed to be worn “without a tie, and with the top button opened at field exercises and with the permission of the senior commander.”(3)  Teachers and students at all military schools are also allowed to wear this uniform in classrooms, laboratories, and workshops.  It is forbidden to wear a shirt without a tie in cities and towns.  Furthermore, “shirts should be cleaned, ironed, and fitted with the correct shoulder boards.  The regulations forbade the wearing of faded and un-ironed shirts.

The cap worn with the uniform was the officer’s white visor cap with the officer’s cockade and a gold band.  Non-line officers are authorized to wear the silver insignia instead of the gold versions.  Extended service personnel and warrant officers would use a black plastic band instead of the gold metal version.

Shoulder boards worn with the uniform are gold in color with a dark blue band (light blue for aviation, red for naval infantry and coastal artillery).  They are shorter than the standard four-sided naval boards and fasten by sliding a strip of fabric through the loop in the shirt, then securing the loop to the board with a button.

The yellow (designated as ‘cream colored’ in the regulations) shirt has two breast pockets and a single row of unadorned buttons.  A black tie is worn with the shirt.  According to Article 144 of the 1969 regulations the “tie is attached to the shirt with a special clip between the third and fourth buttons.”(3)  Standard black officer’s trousers and a pair of black officer’s shoes complete the uniform.  The trousers feature two pockets and a button fly design.

The uniform was authorized to be worn by officers, warrant officers (with special shoulder boards) and extended service enlisted men.  No badges, medals, orders, or ribbons were to be worn on the shirt.