Military Power

What do you think were/are the best, worst, coolest, ugliest, ect uniforms in history? (Visual Aids appreciated)

Well, the Roman Legionaries had some nice uniforms. And it would seem to me that the "Redcoats" were probably not very effective at camouflage.

Effective uniforms? Seems to me (Islamic) terrorists have the most effective "uniform". They blend right in with their victims (usually innocent civilians) so you can tell them apart. The only time you see them in uniform is when they want to make a statement.

CrazyCatman wrote:Well, the Roman Legionaries had some nice uniforms. And it would seem to me that the "Redcoats" were probably not very effective at camouflage.

Well, about the "Redcoats", it depends on what you are wanting to hide. Remember, that at that time, the tactic was to stand in lines and fire at each other. Hiding in the woods was frowned upon. However, being red it hides blood fairly nicely and hiding the blood is good for the moral of those around you.

I agree. Back then, the only army who used camo were the "rebels." Although it wasn't officially camo, the civilian clothes they wore would go well in a tree a a sharpshooter..

KnightTemplar wrote:

CrazyCatman wrote:Well, the Roman Legionaries had some nice uniforms. And it would seem to me that the "Redcoats" were probably not very effective at camouflage.

Well, about the "Redcoats", it depends on what you are wanting to hide. Remember, that at that time, the tactic was to stand in lines and fire at each other. Hiding in the woods was frowned upon. However, being red it hides blood fairly nicely and hiding the blood is good for the moral of those around you.

To a modern generation, wearing a bright red coat into battle may seem a rather crazy thing to do. The red coat of the British infantry had first been introduced with the creation of the Parlimentarian New Model Army in 1644 and continued to be worn in Battle (except for some campaigns in India) until the mid 1880s.

During the Horse and Musket era it was normal practice for enemy scouts to be sent out to count the numbers of the opposing force lined up in battle formation. However the bright red colour of the massed British soldiers tended to optically blur into a solid wall of colour-thus making it extremely difficult for the enemy scouts to accurately assess the strength of the British forces arrayed against them.

Today the Redcoat survives only in the ceremonial dress of the Brigade of Guards and in some Military bands.

Wow. I guess the redcoats were effective in multiple ways.

Well, redcoats wore red because the muskets back then made a lot of smoke and the battlefield visibility was badly reduced. The bright colours would help the soldiers see each other.
Plus, blood looks dark red when it stains the red coat.
Nothing can match the good old 18 century!


I also like the SS uniform, the one on the left:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Die_ ... nen_SS.jpg

Best looking dress uniform: I would have to say the WWII style Marine Dress Uniform.

The Celts had very awkward uniforms which they wore into battle. It was their own skin, being they went in naked. Now, for this time this was a very good idea. Being naked caused less injury than it would if they had clothes or armor. When a blade pierced their flesh, the blade would not push fabrics, rust or any metal into the flesh would be extremely difficult to remove by surgery. Thus, this resulted in least amount of infections for those who survived.

Also, a lot of Celtic generals were women.

But, here is the main question. What would you do if you had a couple thousand angry Celts running down the battlefield naked at you? Would you laugh, hope they dont touch you? Or would you run the other way because those guys are just too weird?

Sorry, couldnt really find any pictures on the internet of Celtic uniforms.

I'm sure glad you didn't find any Celtic battle uniforms on the internet.

But that is very interesting, and it makes sense. Fabrics can easily carry diseases, viruses and even organisms with ease could provide a very nasty infection if they flesh was pierced.

However primitive, it was common sense from the Celts.