Equalization (uniform)
By equalizing the system of colors and colored badge to specify the individual regiments each other was, and to distinguish different branches of the Austro-Hungarian army called. It was an official name from the Austro-Hungarian military nomenclature .
term
The term breaks down into equalization as overall and equalization colors or weapon colors or badge colors as a sub-term.
In this colloquially colors Kastl mentioned very complicated system of imperial military is denoted by leveling the one hand, the distinctive features in the last 102 infantry - regiments , the Lancers and Dragoons of the peace prior joint army with each other hand in all the other belonging to a branch of service or activity.
Attaching colored badges to differentiate individual units in different parts of the uniform is not an Austrian invention. Immediately with the beginning of a systematic uniformization of troops in the middle of the 17th century, cuffs began to be produced in different colors in all armies . However, this system was used particularly intensively in Austria. The palette called Farbenkastl, with its twelve shades of red alone, can be identified here as early as 1762. When it was introduced, the colors were allocated to the individual regiments.
Until the change of the uniform style in the Napoleonic era , the equalization colors in the kuk army were mostly only worn on the borders and cuffs of the collarless skirts. (For some regiments, for example Infantry Regiment No. 27 "Baden-Durlach", the lap envelopes were also colored.)
After the discontinuation of pre-revolutionary uniforms and the introduction of the Kollett , the color box system was continued in that the colors could now be seen on the stand-up collars, the lap turn-ups and the cuffs. After the army reform of 1867, the new tunic kept the previous system, only the fold was naturally omitted.
The parolis in the equalizing color ( badge color ) together with the cuffs, passepoils , lampasses , as well as through the color and cut of the tunic (buttoned in one or two rows ) were used for equalization .
On the uniform of the kuk infantry or dragoon regiments, numbering was not provided, so that one had to resort to other means to be able to distinguish these units from one another. This was done through the different color combinations of the parolis or cuffs in connection with the different colored (yellow or white) buttons.
Another distinguishing feature was the cuffs of the "German" and "Hungarian" regiments, which differed in shape, so that in the end each color could be used four times for the infantry.
Not inconsiderable difficulties arose due to the sometimes only insignificantly different color tones, especially the red colors. Although color sample cards existed in the adjustment regulations and in the clothing depots, on which the exact color shades were specified, deviations were already permitted here, ranging from “at least the lightest” to the “highest, the darkest”. Because of the different fabric manufacturers and the fact that the officers had to dress themselves and, if necessary, express special requests - which, by the way, were tacitly tolerated anyway - there was no getting around this practice. If there was no comparison, it was almost impossible to tell whether a soldier was wearing cherry red parolis or dark red parolis. (To make matters worse, there was a "light" and a "dark" version for the color madder red!)
Another problem was the almost arbitrary naming of the colors, which, for example, in the case of the term "gray-blue" used for the trousers of the military officials in no way corresponds to the facts. The color spectrum was somewhere between black-blue, anthracite and black.
After the end of the Danube monarchy, a simple system of weapon colors based on the model of the Reichswehr replaced the equalization until it experienced a brief resurrection under the corporate state in the federal army .
Examples
LEVELING COLOR | BUTTONS |
Imperial yellow | White |
(German) Infantry Regiment "Graf Lacy" No. 22 | |
(Hungarian) Infantry Regiment "Pucherna" No. 31 | |
Imperial yellow | yellow |
(German) infantry regiment "Albert I, King of the Belgians" No. 27 | |
(Hungarian) infantry regiment "Emperor Alexander I of Russia" No. 2 | |
Sea grass green | yellow |
(German) Infantry Regiment "Potiorek" No. 102 | |
Pale red | yellow |
(German) Infantry Regiment Prinz "Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld" No. 57 | |
(Hungarian) Infantry Regiment "Archduke Ludwig Viktor" No. 65 | |
Pale red | White |
(German) Infantry Regiment "Reichsgraf Browne" No. 36 | |
(Hungarian) Infantry Regiment "Archduke Peter Ferdinand" No. 65 |
The distinguishing features of the kuk infantry regiments
Leveling color | Button color | German Rgtr | Hungarian Rgtr | Button color | German Rgtr | Hungarian Rgtr |
White | White | IR 92 | - | yellow | IR 94 | - |
black | White | IR 58 | IR 38 | yellow | IR 14 | IR 26 |
Scarlet fever | White | IR 80 | IR 39 | yellow | IR 45 | IR 37 |
Amaranth red | White | IR 95 | - | yellow | IR 90 | IR 86 |
Crab red | White | IR 20 | IR 67 | yellow | IR 35 | IR 71 |
madder | White | IR 74 | IR 34 | yellow | IR 15 | IR 44 |
Bordeaux red | White | IR 88 | - | yellow | IR 89 | - |
Pale red | White | IR 36 | IR 66 | yellow | IR 57 | IR 65 |
Rose red | White | IR 97 | IR 13 | yellow | IR 6 | IR 5 |
Cherry red | White | IR 77 | IR 23 | yellow | IR 73 | IR 43 |
Crimson | White | IR 81 | IR 82 | yellow | IR 84 | IR 96 |
Dark red | White | IR 18 | IR 53 | yellow | IR 1 | IR 52 |
Sulfur yellow | White | IR 41 | IR 101 | yellow | IR 99 | IR 16 |
Imperial yellow | White | IR 22 | IR 31 | yellow | IR 27 | IR 2 |
Orange yellow | White | IR 42 | IR 63 | yellow | IR 59 | IR 64 |
Light blue | White | IR 75 | IR 29 | yellow | IR 40 | IR 72 |
Sky blue | White | IR 3 | IR 19 | yellow | IR 4 | IR 32 |
Light drap | White | IR 98 | - | yellow | IR 100 | |
Pike gray | White | IR 49 | IR 69 | yellow | 30th | IR 76 |
Ash gray | White | IR 24 | IR 33 | yellow | IR 11 | IR 51 |
Sea green | White | IR 87 | IR 25 | yellow | IR 21 | IR 70 |
Apple green | White | IR 54 | IR 79 | yellow | IR 9 | IR 85 |
Sea grass green | White | - | - | yellow | IR 102 | - |
Parrot green | White | IR 10 | IR 50 | yellow | IR 91 | IR 46 |
Green grass | White | IR 28 | IR 62 | yellow | IR 8 | IR 61 |
Steel green | White | IR 47 | IR 60 | yellow | IR 56 | IR 48 |
Brownish red | White | IR 17 | IR 78 | yellow | IR 55 | IR 68 |
Dark brown | White | IR 7 | IR 83 | yellow | IR 93 | IR 12 |
cavalry
Hussars
The equalization of the hussars took place through the colored shakos , the olives and the attillas (light blue and dark blue). Instead of the imperial coat of arms, the hussars had a number on the shako eagle's breastplate.
regiment | Attila | Olives | Shako cover |
---|---|---|---|
8th | dark blue | yellow | madder |
3 | dark blue | yellow | White |
1 | dark blue | yellow | dark blue |
15th | dark blue | yellow | ash gray |
5 | dark blue | White | madder |
9 | dark blue | White | White |
13 | dark blue | White | dark blue |
11 | dark blue | White | ash gray |
14th | light blue | yellow | madder |
2 | light blue | yellow | White |
10 | light blue | yellow | light blue |
6th | light blue | yellow | ash gray |
4th | light blue | White | madder |
12 | light blue | White | White |
7th | light blue | White | light blue |
16 | light blue | White | ash gray |
The Austro-Hungarian Landwehr Hussars all wore dark blue Attila and shakos of the same color. They could only be distinguished from one another by the number on the shako.
dragoon
regiment | Button color | Leveling color |
---|---|---|
1 | White | dark red |
2 | White | black |
3 | yellow | dark red |
4th | White | grass green |
5 | White | imperial yellow |
6th | yellow | black |
7th | White | sulfur yellow |
8th | yellow | scarlet |
9 | yellow | grass green |
10 | yellow | sulfur yellow |
11 | White | scarlet |
12 | yellow | imperial yellow |
13 | White | madder |
14th | yellow | madder |
15th | yellow | White |
Uhlans
regiment | Button color | Tschapka cover |
---|---|---|
1 | yellow | imperial yellow |
2 | yellow | dark green |
3 | yellow | madder |
4th | yellow | White |
5 | yellow | light blue |
6th | White | imperial yellow |
7th | White | dark green |
8th | White | madder |
11 | White | cherry red |
12 | yellow | sky blue |
13 | White | sky blue |
The kk Landwehr Uhlans wore the same uniform, but they all wore a madder red capka suit. They could only be distinguished from one another by the number on the Tschapka and the number on the (uniform) white buttons.
Equalization as a sign of the type of weapon or branch
(All units of the class wore the same leveling color, there was no distinguishing feature between the units - as with the infantry regiments)
Type of weapon / branch | Leveling color | additive |
---|---|---|
Kaiserjäger | grass green | |
Military police | grass green | Buttons with battalion numbers |
Imperial and Royal Landwehr Infantry | grass green | Officers buttons with numbers |
State riflemen | grass green | Buttons with Roman numbers |
Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry | alizarin red | Buttons with regimental numbers |
Sappers | cherry red | |
Pioneers | steel green | |
artillery | scarlet | |
Military doctors | black velvet | scarlet passepoils |
Medical service | madder | |
Catering industry | light blue | white buttons |
Outfit | madder | yellow buttons |
Troop accounting officer | light blue | white buttons |
Indetante officials | crimson | yellow buttons |
Train | light blue | white buttons |
Military educational institutions | crimson | black blouse |
Judicial system | madder | yellow buttons |
Military Geography Institute | black velvet | scarlet passepoils |
Invalids (teams) | madder | white buttons |
Invalids (officers) | scarlet | |
Generals | scarlet | |
Adjutants General | scarlet | |
General Staff officers | black velvet | scarlet passepoils |
Staff of genius | cherry red velvet | |
Military civil engineers | cherry red velvet | white buttons |
Military Technical Committee | cherry red velvet | yellow buttons |
Military registrars | orange yellow | white buttons |
Police Guard Corps | madder | yellow buttons |
ku Landwehr | mouse gray |
Collar badges of the industries
Men and officers (up to captain ) of the Austro-Hungarian Railway Regiment
Staff officers of the railway regiment
Rock drilling team of the kuk sappers
Equalizing and basic colors
Problem of color recognition
Not inconsiderable difficulties in color recognition arise from two aspects:
- The lax handling of uniform regulations. The colors to be used were prescribed and specified with the help of color sample boards, but there were often not inconsiderable deviations, especially when dressing up yourself. Anyone who had a skirt made by a master tailor in the farthest province (for example in Banja Luka or Trembowla) could not necessarily be sure that the exact color was used here. The same applied to the collar color, where eleven different shades of red and six different shades of green already caused difficulties in the obvious allocation. In addition, deviations were accepted ex officio, which increased the confusion. So-called color tones were allowed for the individual colors, ranging from “at least as light to at most as dark”. The imaginative naming such as sea green, sea grass green and grass green does the rest. (Why grass green is a dark green with a strong hint of blue is not clear to you.) The outfit management industry also repeatedly found manufacturer-related color deviations from the norm, but this could never be remedied. In the case of voluntary self-procurement (for example, one-year-old volunteers or well-off persons obliged to provide uniforms), the provision was interpreted extremely generously.
- The time factor. Time has not passed by without a trace on the sample parts and sample boards or cards. Especially after the end of the First World War, the legacy of the Austro-Hungarian army was given little respect and was often abandoned to neglect. This also led to the fact that the color charts and sample pieces have faded and no longer reflect the respective original color.
literature
- Adjustment regulation for the Austro-Hungarian Joint Army, the Imperial and Royal Landwehr, the Imperial and Royal Landwehr, the affiliated institutions and the corps of military officials. (Part III) Published with the approval of the Austro-Hungarian War Ministry by Erich Christl's kuk Hofdruckerei, Bozen 1912.
- Peter Fichtenbauer , Christian Ortner : The history of the Austrian army from Maria Theresa to the present in essays and pictorial representations , Verlag Militaria, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-902526-71-7
- Johann C. Allmayer-Beck, Erich Lessing: The Kuk Army. 1848-1914 . Bertelsmann publishing house, Munich 1974, ISBN 3-570-07287-8 .
- Stefan Rest: The emperor's rock in the First World War . Verlag Militaria, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-9501642-0-0
- The Austro-Hungarian Army in 1895 Writings from the Army History Museum in Vienna - Leopold Stocker Verlag , Graz 1997