Plastron (uniform)
A plastron is a patch on the chest of the Uhlan uniform , usually in the color of a badge , similar to a border .
In Poland at the end of the 18th century a particularly tight uniform cut was developed, which was characterized in particular by short skirt tails and a uniform skirt closed at the front. The borders no longer went up to the level of the thigh, but were cut straight at hip level, below which the skirt was open, because the skirt tails only started at the outer edge of the borders. With the participation of Polish volunteer associations on the French side in the coalition wars, this pattern shaped the style of the Grande Armée . In 1812 a uniform skirt called habit veste was introduced for almost all line regiments in France, and the regiments of the "Young Guard" followed later. A Uhlan jacket of this style was known as a kurtka and its borders as a plastron. In the case of all other branches of arms, discounts or plastrons disappeared during the Biedermeier period at the latest with the introduction of the tunic, only in the case of Uhlans and the Bavarian Chevaulegers the plastron remained on the Ulanka until the First World War , in Great Britain the soldiers of the two remaining Uhlan regiments (meanwhile Tank reconnaissance groups ) to parades historical uniforms with plastrons.
As a rule, the plastron was buttoned inwards for field uniforms.
Until 1918, the plastron was generally referred to as parade discounts among the Uhlans of the Army of the German Empire and the Bavarian Chevaulegers.
literature
- Richard Knötel, Herbert Knötel and Herbert Sieg: Colored Handbook of Uniform Studies. 2 volumes, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 978-3-7766-2144-0