Army officers in Brigadier rank and above to don common uniform from August 1

Generals from the Gorkha Rifles will no longer wear their trademark hats, their counterparts from specific armoured regiments will not don brown shoes, and the Special Forces brass will bid adieu to the famous maroon beret, with the Indian Army set to introduce a new uniform dress regulation for senior officers.

After introducing a new combat dress for all soldiers last year, the army has now decided to adopt a common uniform for officers of the rank of brigadier and above to bolster a common identity and approach in service matters among the senior leadership, officials familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

With the new regulation in place from August 1, the senior officers will no longer wear accoutrements specific to their respective arms and services, said one of the officials cited above, asking not to be named. These officers include major generals, lieutenant generals, and the army chief.

From headgear to shoulder rank badges and gorget patches (collar tabs) to belts and shoes, the uniform of the senior officers will be standardised and common, said a second official, who also asked not to be named. The decision to switch to the common uniform was taken in April during the Army Commanders’ Conference, chaired by army chief General Manoj Pande, after extensive consultations with all stakeholders.

In another significant departure from the existing practice, the senior officers will no longer wear the ubiquitous lanyard around the shoulder.

The common uniform will not reveal the regimental or service affiliation of the senior officers, said the first official.

These officers have already commanded units and are mostly posted at headquarters and establishments where officers from all arms and services work and function together, he said. “A standard uniform will ensure a common identity for all senior officers, while reflecting the true ethos of the army.”

The current uniforms of the senior officers vary with their regimental and service affiliations. For instance, officers from armoured corps wear black berets, those from infantry and mechanised infantry wear caps that are different shades of green and gunners sport blue caps. Officers from the Corps of Military Police thus far wore red berets. The senior officers will wear dark green berets now, the officials said.

The officials gave granular details of the changes. The belt buckles will no longer be arms or services specific and will be replaced by buckles with the Indian Army crest on them. The shoulder rank badges will be golden for all senior officers. Currently, officers from the rifle regiments such as Gorkha Rifles, Garhwal Rifles and Rajputana Rifles wear black rank badges.

All senior officers will wear black brogues without exception. Top doctors will sport red collar tabs instead of the current maroon.

Once you reach a particular rank, regimental affiliation can be done away with, said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd). “The message is that there should be no regimental bias in functioning and decision making. The senior officers will belong to a common pool and old affiliations will no longer be important,” he added.

There will be no change in the uniforms worn by colonels and below.

Different types of uniforms and accoutrements have specific association to respective arms, regiments and services, the officials said. “This recognition with distinct identity within the arms, regiments and services is essential for junior leadership and the rank and file to further strengthen camaraderie, esprit de corps and regimental ethos which form the bedrock of soldiering,” said the first official, At the unit level, a distinct sense of identity reflects a strong bond among officers and men in the same regiment, he added.

In 2022, the army introduced a new combat uniform, and all soldiers will switch to it over the next two years. The army said at the time that the new uniform provided soldiers better camouflage, more comfort, and uniformity in design. While soldiers wear the combat uniform in operational areas, officers posted in the Army headquarters in New Delhi also wear the combat dress on Fridays, in solidarity with men operating in forward areas.