{"id":35291,"date":"2023-05-10T06:05:10","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T00:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=35291"},"modified":"2025-04-20T23:29:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T17:59:24","slug":"indian-army-introducing-common-uniforms-for-officers-of-brigadier-rank-and-above","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/indian-army-introducing-common-uniforms-for-officers-of-brigadier-rank-and-above\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Army Introducing Common Uniforms for Officers of Brigadier Rank and Above"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>News Summary: Indian Army introducing common uniforms for officers of brigadier rank and above<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What will change?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What has been the current practice?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the reason for making the change?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Is this the first time that this is being done?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the tradition in other armies?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Army has decided that brigadiers and above rank officers will have a common uniform from August 1 irrespective of their parent cadre and appointment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\n<strong>News Summary:<\/strong> <strong>Indian Army introducing common uniforms for officers of brigadier rank and above<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Brigadiers and officers ranked above them will now share a common uniform. The Indian Army made the decision during the Army Commanders Conference.<\/li>\n<li>There will be no change to the uniform worn by Colonels and below-rank officers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What will change?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The headgear, shoulder rank badges, gorget patches, belt and shoes of senior officers will be standardised as part of the decision.<\/li>\n<li>Senior officers will no longer display regimental lanyards on their shoulders.<\/li>\n<li>Shoulder flashes such as \u2018Special Forces\u2019, \u2018Arunachal Scouts\u2019, \u2018Dogra Scouts\u2019 will also not be worn.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What has been the current practice?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In the current practice, senior officers of different ranks wear insignia of their respective arms and regiments on their uniform.<\/li>\n<li>Infantry and military intelligence officers currently sport green berets, while armoured corp officers wear black berets.<\/li>\n<li>The dark blue beret is worn by artillery, engineers, signals, air defence, and some minor corps officers, while army aviation corps officers don grey berets.<\/li>\n<li>Para officers and armoured officers sport their maroon beret and belt respectively once they are promoted to brigadier.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the reason for making the change?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Common identity for all senior-rank officers<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Although, the distinct identity is vital strengthen camaraderie, esprit de corps and regimental ethos for junior leadership.\n<ul>\n<li>The identity fosters a strong bond in the same regiment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>However, brigadiers and above officers are those who have already commanded units, battalions. They are mostly posted at headquarters or establishments.<\/li>\n<li>Hence, a standard uniform will <u>ensure a common identity for all senior-rank officers while reflecting the true ethos of the Indian Army<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>To reinforce the Indian Army\u2019s character to be a fair and equitable organisation<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Regimental service in the Army ends at the rank of Colonel for most officers who rise further.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Therefore, affiliations with a particular regiment or corps must also end at that rank \u2013 in order to <u>avoid regimental parochialism in the higher ranks<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>Those at higher ranks often command troops from across regiments, thus it is only appropriate that these <u>officers present themselves in a neutral uniform<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Is this the first time that this is being done?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In fact, 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.<\/li>\n<li>Until about the mid-1980s, <u>the regimental service was till the rank of Lt Colonel. Officers of the rank of Colonel and above had common uniform patterns and insignia<\/u>.\n<ul>\n<li>Colonels and Brigadiers shed their regimental insignia and wore the Ashoka emblem on their cap badges. The colour of beret was khaki.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the tradition in other armies?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>British Army<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In the British army, from where the Indian Army derives its uniform pattern, the <u>uniform worn by officers of the rank of Colonel and above is referred to as the Staff uniform<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>This is to distinguish it from the Regimental uniform.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Neighbouring countries &#8211; Pakistan and Bangladesh<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Among neighbouring countries, the Pakistan and Bangladesh armies follow the same pattern as the British army.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>All regimental uniform items are discarded beyond the rank of Lt Colonel. All officers of the rank of Brigadier and above wear similar pattern uniforms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1)<\/strong> <strong>What is a regiment in Army?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A regiment is a military unit typically consisting of several battalions, commanded by a colonel or a lieutenant colonel. In the army, a regiment is usually composed of two or more battalions, each consisting of several companies or platoons.\u00a0Regiments are usually organized around a specific branch of the military, such as infantry, cavalry, or artillery, and may have a specialized function, such as reconnaissance or special operations. The size of a regiment can vary, depending on the mission and the military branch, but typically ranges from a few hundred to several thousand soldiers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) What is Army Commanders Conference?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Army Commanders&#8217; Conference is a forum of the Indian Army&#8217;s top leadership, comprising the Army Chief, Vice-Chief of Army Staff, and all Army Commanders. The conference is held biannually and is a crucial event in the Army&#8217;s calendar.\u00a0The purpose of the conference is to review the Army&#8217;s operational preparedness, discuss strategic issues and policy matters, and make important decisions related to the Army&#8217;s functioning. It serves as a platform for the top brass to exchange ideas, share experiences, and take stock of the security situation in the country.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/common-uniforms-at-higher-ranks-of-the-army-why-and-what-will-change-8600390\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Common uniforms at higher ranks of the Army: why, and what will change?<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstpost.com\/explainers\/why-is-the-indian-army-introducing-common-uniforms-for-officers-of-brigadier-rank-and-above-12571012.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>FirstPost<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/common-uniform-for-brigadiers-and-above-rank-officers-in-army-from-august-1\/article66829953.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>The Hindu<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/brigadiers-and-above-to-have-common-uniform-indian-army-8600720\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Indian Express<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indian Army has decided that brigadiers and above rank officers will have a common uniform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":35292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-35291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}