In its nascent years, the Red Army's uniform was defined by two main factors: the revolutionary symbology developed in 1917 and the abysmal logistical realities of a country in crisis. This typically meant soldiers marching to Civil War battles in shabby World War hand-me-downs and rustic peasant shoes made of bark, if even that. At this time insignia was also primitive, scant strips of red cloth at best. As the Soviet state consolidated however, these would become more developed. Uniforms became more distinctive and insignia more specific in their meanings, evoking symbols of labour or a mythologised Russian historical continuity. Yet this often would not last: once the revolutionary period had ended, many of these elements would be abandoned or even reversed entirely under the coming regime.
Symbolic origins and the Red Guards On 8 March 1917, Russia burst into revolution and with it came the fall of the Tsardom and the establishment of a Provisional Government. The defining factor in the fall of the Autocracy was the lack of support from the military: both soldier and sailor rebelled against their officers and joined the masses. The symbols of the old regime, including those of the military, were the target of a campaign of iconoclasm from the populace that would form the basis of Soviet military symbology for years to come.
Symbols of rank The Provisional Government was meant to be only a temporary measure in order to host the first elections to the Constituent Assembly, therefore they made few reforms to the old tsarist uniforms. For the most part these seem to have been made to appease the fiery sentiments of the rank and file. To them the worst symbol of the old order were shoulder boards, especially those of officers. This hatred was so great that officers would sometimes be surrounded by gangs of soldiers and have their shoulder boards forcibly torn from their uniforms and in other instances even murder was committed over them. Men also began to refuse taking orders from officers wearing the tsarist monograms on their shoulders. The reasoning behind these acts was aptly described in the diary of an officer paraphrasing his men's interpretation of Order No.1 from the Petrograd Soviet: 'Saluting acknowledges epaulettes which were created by the Tsar: the Father Tsar is no more, so there is no need for epaulettes, and no need to salute'. Early after February shoulder boards were not yet universally hated, with some adding red sewn material or ribbons to their own, but later the idea that shoulders boards were a relic of the Autocracy became monolithic. The renouncing of shoulder boards was a radical expression of equality and this was likely a consideration for the Red Army when creating its own rank insignia.
The colour red After February, the culture of the revolutionary underground came to dominate Russian society along with its love for the colour red. For centuries red (krasnaia in Russian) had been the international colour of defiance and revolution but within Russia it had its own unique meanings. Red had been a favoured colour of the Tsars, using it prominently in their architecture such as in the Red Square for example. Iconic buildings in Russia already sporting a revolutionary hue, alongside krasnaia also meaning beautiful, not to mention its populist appeal, gave the colour additional propaganda usage to the Bolsheviks who would succeed in associating the colour with their brand of communism. It is then unsurprising that it would feature so prominently in the Red Army.
The Hammer, Sickle, and Plough
Though the now famous and undisputed symbol of the Soviet Union and international communism, the Bolsheviks were not the first to use the hammer and sickle nor was it the first to be used by them. The hammer and sickle had adorned the Chilean one peso coin from 1896 and had even decorated the Marinsky Palace, the seat of the Provisional Government – the opponents of the communists in 1917 – in the days after the February Revolution. The crossed hammer and plough, rather than the sickle, would first be used by the Bolsheviks and was meant to represent the unity of the industrial workers and the rural peasantry. The plough would be short lived however and soon replaced by the hammer and sickle in the army in 1919, although the hammer and plough would still see use until 1922.
Origins of the red star
There are a few stories of how the red star came to be the symbol of the Red Army. One credible source says that in 1917, members of the Moscow garrison were ordered to wear white tin stars on their caps to differentiate themselves from the mass influx of troops returning from the front against the Central Powers. When a revolutionary air came over them, the garrison painted these stars red with the Bolsheviks approving so much of the idea that it would become the official symbol of the Soviet military. Another, though this account is highly questionable, claims that the star was introduced by the large section of Jews in the young government and military who, allegedly, saw the Revolution as the in-progress building of the Promised Land in Russia. The official line from the Bolsheviks, however, was that the star represented world revolution on the 'five continents'.
Yet the red star was by no means a new symbol, for it had religious implications deeply rooted in peasant superstition. One pamphlet from 1918 justified to the peasant soldier why he wore the red star in folkloric terms:
The Red Guards
The beginnings of the Red Army and its continuation of this revolutionary symbology can be seen in the Red Guards that preceded it in 1917. These armed bands, primary composed of factory workers, were a wholly volunteer force where commanders were elected during militia meetings. As more men returned from the front their ranks were swelled with soldiers and sailors as well as international volunteers, during the first months of 1918. Red Guard uniform, or lack thereof, was a melting pot of both military and civilian garments. Guardsmen wore whatever was available with their scant red symbols being the only thing that united them aesthetically, if even worn. German and Austro-Hungarian POWs turned Red Guards would continue wearing their old uniforms due to a lack of alternatives. During the civil war years, the Red Army would inherit such a situation until new uniforms could be provided.
After their formation following the February Revolution, Red Guards began to wear diagonal (top right to bottom left) red cloth strips on caps and red ribbons alongside red cloth armbands, however the extent to which any of these were worn varied. Some armbands would have writing displaying date of formation, locality or factory of origin, detachment number and/or simply the words 'Red Guard'. Later after November others could feature designs such as Moscow's patron Saint George or badges like those worn by the Militsiya.
General uniform In the first years of its life, the uniform of the Red Army was anarchic: Both military and civilian garb was worn, men fought each other over life saving army coats in the winter whilst some had to wear ladies' boots. Leon Trotsky had even said to a conference of army political workers in December 1919 that "Comrades, I don't want to frighten you, but ... although we have not been brought down by Denikin or Kolchak, we may yet be brought down by overcoats and boots".
In the first half of 1918, it had become apparent that the new model of army was inadequate, both small in number (200,000 by April) and typically ineffectual in the face of the Germans and the reactionary Volunteer Army. The elections and volunteerism of the Red Guards was abandoned and conscription for men ages 21 to 26 was introduced on 12 June, swelling the size of the army. This engorged force, along with the appalling state of the country's logistics, meant that the introduction of new uniforms and insignia would only be on paper for large portions of the army who would continue on using old tsarist stock and whatever else they could get their hands on. Though the situation would improve over the civil war years, at no point during it could it be said that there was one true uniform.
Red clothing in the Red Army In the early period of the civil war, when troops often had to supply or produce their own uniforms, the cultural obsession with the colour red manifested once more. Soldiers sought out red materials to make their tunics and according to G.H. Mikhailovsk, a Russian diplomat, an entire unit outfitted in the colour occupied Sevastopol in 1919: 'Over all the city... [from] Nakhimovsk Avenue to Ekaterininsk Street [there] was ... a red cavalcade all in red garments from head to toe, with high white gaiters on some... so that they looked like a new type of American red Indian'. Even experienced commanders would wear women's coats with some sense of pride if they sported a suitably proletarian hue.
Foreign uniforms After the beginning of the Allied intervention, some foreign uniform pieces began to make their way into the Red Army as Lenin recalled during a 1920 conference: '... and to us now one after [another] approach trains with splendid English equipment, [which] frequently meet Russian Red [Army] men. Whole divisions invested in ... English [clothes] and[,] ... [as] one comrade in the Caucasus [related to me], [a] whole [Red Army] division [wearing] Italian bersale. I feel very sorry that I do not have [any photos] of these ... Red [Army] men ... . I must [admit] ... that the Red Army [is] beholden to English merchants[; merchants] that dress our men via their soldiers, which the Bolsheviks beat and will beat still many more times...'. There was much truth behind these words as shown by British Major General Knox's outrage at the situation in Siberia during 1919: 80% of the White Army's conscripts had run off to the Red side of the front, presumably taking 200,000 British uniforms with them. Commissar Trotsky sent a letter to Knox thanking him for his donation.
1918
Headwear The most prevalent piece of headwear for all native sides during the civil war was the peaked service cap (furashka) of the Imperial Army. These would have varied from khaki to olive in colour with a front peak and maybe a chinstrap in black leather or the same khaki-olive cloth – caps made wholly of leather were favoured by commanders. The M1910 winter cap (papakha) was also worn as well as innumerable different types of fur hat. The papakha consisted of a khaki headpiece with an upward folded front flap and a wider upward folded rear flap that could be folded down to cover the ears and neck; The flaps were made of either light grey natural or artificial astrakhan wool. A khaki side cap (pilotka) was introduced in 1916 for Russian soldiers to wear under French supplied Adrian helmets but in the Red Army these were often reserved for cadets. Occasionally, some units would wear Shakos from old Imperial stores when on parade.
Tunics and greatcoats Various wool and cotton field shirts – all called gymnastiorkas – were very common, especially amongst the lower ranks. These all had standing collars fastened by two buttons as well as two or three buttons that, along with the opening to be fastened, stopped about halfway down the khaki-olive shirt – they could turn an off white with enough hard wear and washing however. Among commanders 'French' tunics were popular, this being a slang term for tunics of British or American style: Such tunics typically had turnover or standing collars, four external pockets (two chest and two waist), and buttoned cuff flaps. Officers additionally wore kitels which were similar to the 'French' but with standing collar, internal skirt pockets, and no cuff flaps. Black leather jackets of varying styles were also popular among Red commanders just as it came to be in the last war.