Guide to Soviet Hat recognition

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Each branch of the service had its own special color combinations for crown, band, and piping. The color of the crown often depended on the type and color of uniform being worn (parade, service, summer, winter, etc.), although exceptions do occur. The piping and hat band, however, were usually the same for all uniforms, except for field use, in which case the entire hat—including the visor and badge—was usually olive drab. Here’s a rundown of the most common piping/band combinations.

Piping - Band - Function
-------------------------------
Red - Red - Army motor rifles (infantry) and police*
Red - Black - Army technical services
Sky blue - Sky blue - Air Force
White - Black - Navy
Dark blue - Dark blue - KGB
Red - Black KGB border troops
White - Red - Officer candidates (Suvorov schools)**
Red - Black - Officer candidate (artillery)
Olive drab - Olive drab - All field uniforms
Maroon - Maroon - MVD (internal army)

* Police caps have gray crowns and different badges
** These colors were also used by traffic police with the militia cap badge.

Technical services included: artillery, armored corps, engineering, motor transport, railway, supply, topographical, railway, road building, construction, pipeline, and signals. Service caps are identical for all these groups, although parade caps for members of the Armored Corps had black velvet bands, rather than ordinary felt bands.