Dress uniform regulations

[Nota Bene]

Gentlemen,

I sometimes see photos of officers wearing medals before orders. Can someone please shed some light on this issue.

Alexei

[k3rvmfusa]

I believe that the diagonal wear of awards lends itself to misinterpretation. Being a military man myself, it just seems wrong to wear the highest award in a position that is physically lower than all of the others. The officer in question probably believes that the highest award should be at the top, instead of the farthest left.

[Nota Bene]

Hmmm... I don't believe the Soviet regulations allowed for any interpretations. Here's from 1973 regulations:

[otlichnik]

Alexei,

I think k3rvmfusa is right though. I have seen in on several photos but mostly I think in the 60s. It may violate regs but it was done at times.

Shawn

[Nota Bene]

Shawn, K3rvmfusa,

Thanks. I guess this is the only logical explanation.

Alexei

[vikingraider1]

Lads,

If anyone is interested, I was wrong.

Under USSR Ministry of Defence order No.85 15th March 1980 the wearing of medals diagonally underneath the lapel was changed to be worn horizontally. That is why the posters from the late 1970s showed them in this way.

I have another one for you. When was the medical and veterinary sleeve insignia changed from being magenta colour to red? I know it was magenta in 1974 and red in 1989 but when was the changeover???

[k3rvmfusa]

According to "Voennaya Odezhda Vooruzhenikh Sil SSSR I Rossii", the colors for medical and veterinary personnel changed to red due to Ministry of Defense Prikaz No. 85 of 15 March 1980. Interestingly, this same order mandated that all officer's dress epaulets would have a gilt base, doing away with the silver base for admin and other personnel.

[vikingraider1]

Thanks for that. That book is pretty good from what I can make out, but as my Russian is pretty terrible do you know if there is an English translation?

[k3rvmfusa]

Unfortunately, I haven't seen an English language version of this book. Its an excellent reference.