In the early days of the founding of New China, the whole army successively distributed 50-style military uniforms. This is the first time that our army has unified the style, material and color of clothing in the whole army. With the improvement of economic conditions and the development of military construction, the 50-type military uniform can no longer meet the needs of military standardization and modernization.
At the beginning of 1953, the Central Military Commission decided to set up a 55-style leading group for clothing reform, with He Long as the leader and Chen Yi, Ye Jianying, Huang Kecheng and Hong Xuezhi as members. Later, Zhang Aiping, deputy chief of staff, was added. Liu Shaoqi once called a meeting of members of the leading group for clothing reform. He said: "This clothing reform mainly refers to the style of the Soviet Union. We can learn first. Some places that are not suitable for our army can be revised, but they must be beautiful and powerful, shaping the glorious image of the people's army. "
From 65438 to 0954, in order to cooperate with the China People's Liberation Army to implement the rank system, the styles, materials and supply methods of military uniforms were comprehensively reformed.
The Quartermaster Department of the General Logistics Department is responsible for collecting samples and studying design styles, materials and colors. The Quartermaster Production Department of the General Logistics Department is responsible for making and keeping samples. At that time, various military uniform samples from the Soviet Union, the United States and other countries were collected. Clothing samples of Beiyang government and Kuomintang army were also collected as reference for research and design. Under the auspices of He Long, the design principle of military rank clothing was determined, and the General Logistics Department put forward the standard scheme of military rank clothing and reported it to the Military Commission. 1On April 7, 955, the Central Military Commission approved this plan. Subsequently, the clothing reform entered the stage of sample clothing design and production, and standard samples should be drawn after each set of clothing is completed.
After the design and production of the whole suit, the military uniform samples were displayed in Beijing Green Rice Warehouse Military Sample Laboratory (now Military Equipment Research Institute). Mao Zedong and other central leaders successively reviewed the samples of military uniforms and pretended to give instructions. On June 5, the trimmed samples were moved from Zhongnanhai to Sanmen Auditorium for exhibition, seeking the opinions of headquarters organs, officers and men of troops stationed in Beijing and leaders of major units coming to Beijing for meetings. The General Logistics Department organized relevant departments to carefully study and modify the samples according to the opinions put forward by everyone in the exhibition, and made a special report to the Ministry of National Defense on the determined drawings and other related issues.
In the report, the new uniforms and dresses are mainly considered from the following aspects: (1) uniforms. The uniforms of officers and men should reflect the neatness and seriousness of military capacity and the unity of the national army, which is convenient for combat activities; Maintain the tradition of hard work and plain living in our army; It is easy to distinguish the difference between superiors and subordinates, which is beneficial to wartime command and peacetime management, but it will not make the difference in clothing quality between officers and men too great; Pay attention to the national characteristics of our military clothing; The materials are made in China, not imported. (2) dress. The dress style of officers is mainly based on the principle of frugality, so as to ensure that they are not too different from the troops of brother countries, so as not to look too different when attending ceremonies and diplomatic activities; Dresses are only issued to general officers, school officers and junior officers who perform special tasks. On July 16, Minister of National Defense Peng called the leaders of major units to discuss and pass the report, which was issued and reported on July 27.
According to the above principles, all the clothing styles are rearranged and displayed in the Qin Zhengting Hall, and Mao Zedong and other relevant leaders are invited to examine and approve them. On the afternoon of August 5th, 1955, Mao Zedong and other central leaders came to the Qin Zhengting Hall to review the samples of military rank clothes again. Mao Zedong watched and listened to the staff's introduction with great interest. When he approached a model of an army soldier, Mao Zedong pointed to the boat-shaped hat and asked He Long, "What do you think of the boat-shaped hat?" ? He Long: Soldiers in most countries in the world wear boat-shaped hats. The advantage of boat-shaped hats is that they do not affect the line of sight when observing targets, and they can be used as linings when wearing helmets. Peng said that several plans have been formulated for the National Day military parade, and everyone agrees that wearing a boat-shaped hat is very energetic. Mao Zedong said: You all agree to wear boat hats, but the materials of rank and clothing should be made in China and based on yourself. Mao Zedong came to the wooden model in marshal's dress, smoking a cigarette and looking at the majestic marshal in front of him. Li Ping, director of the Military Affairs Department of the General Staff Department who accompanied Mao Zedong, said, "Madam President, this is a marshal's uniform." After hearing this, Mao Zedong showed a disapproving expression on her face. He habitually raised his left hand and brushed it away. He flicked a cigarette with his right hand and said humorously, "Marshal? Stand aside! " In a word, Zhu De,,, Peng and others all laughed. Mao Zedong asked, "How do these clothes you made compare with the current military uniforms?" Li Ping truthfully answered the prices of two kinds of military uniforms, and stressed: "This kind of military uniform looks good, and we also paid attention to saving as much as possible when designing." Mao Zedong said happily: "It is good to proceed from economic principles, with beautiful style, unified and formal, and economical!"
After reading the sample of military uniform, I gave the report to Peng and the sample of military uniform and rank to Peng. Mao Zedong opened the sample and handed it to Zhou Enlai, saying, "Please do this for the Prime Minister." That night, according to Mao Zedong's instructions and referring to the suggestions of other central leaders, Zhou Enlai summarized them into six points. Zhou Enlai also instructed further consultation with democratic parties and people from all walks of life.
On August 20, the General Logistics Department showed samples of military uniforms in the auditorium of the CPPCC. There are 62 celebrities from all walks of life, including Soong Ching Ling, Cheng Qian and Zhang Zhizhong. They put forward many pertinent and valuable opinions on the samples of military uniforms. In addition, the military attaché s of the embassies of socialist countries in China were invited to visit the sample display of military uniforms. On August 24th, Zhang Aiping, Hong Xuezhi and Zhang Lingbin, representatives of the Clothing Reform Group, wrote a special report to Zhou Enlai, which was presented by Hong Xuezhi to Zhou Enlai. After careful review, Zhou Enlai criticized each question one by one, and finally stated on the front page of the report: "I agree with everything except the symbols of cavalry and automobile forces."
1 955 September 16, the State Council held a meeting on 18, which adopted a report on military rank clothing, and determined that the military rank clothing of the Chinese People's Liberation Army would be implemented from 10/0/day. The full set of military rank clothing is named 55-style clothing.
Type 55 military rank clothing is divided into two categories: formal dress and regular dress, which is the first time to break through the history of military uniforms of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Dresses are mainly distributed to officers at or above the field level, and are worn on major ceremonial occasions and when visiting abroad. At the same time, there are dresses for junior officers and sailors of naval vessels, as well as dresses for military bands, honor guards, cultural and art troupes and sports teams. The style is big collar, double-row six-button suit, trousers (skirts worn by female officers), plus various side ornaments and embroidery ornaments, with white shirts, navy blue ties, large brim hats (soft hats without eaves worn by female officers) and leather shoes. Color: The military uniforms of Grand Marshal, Marshal, General of Army, Navy and Air Force and field officers are navy blue, and the navy is navy blue; Material: The military uniforms of Grand Marshal, Marshal and General are pure wool gabardine, and the military uniforms of school officials are pure wool serge. Rank is distinguished by the star pattern on the epaulettes and the edge decoration of clothes and trousers. Marshal's epaulettes embroider the national emblem, general's epaulettes embroider the star flower, and school official's epaulettes embroider the vertical line of the star flower. The dress of female officers above the field level is a skirt, and the decoration and materials are the same as those of male officers. The 55-style military rank dress has greatly improved the military capacity of officers above the field level and better demonstrated the national prestige and military prestige.
There are two kinds of uniforms: summer uniforms and winter uniforms. The army is brown and green; The air force is brown, green and blue; Navy uniforms are navy blue in summer and navy blue in winter. The winter clothes of female officers are the same as those of male officers, with a small lapel above and a skirt below. In summer, male officers wear big-brimmed hats and female officers wear no-brimmed hats. In winter, both male and female officers wear velvet hats (fur hats).
Type 55 military rank clothing is a milestone in the history of the development of PLA military uniforms, and the generals, hats, epaulettes and Sam Browne belts have left a deep impression on the people.
Type 55 uniforms, navy soldiers wear navy uniforms and hats, and navy soldiers wear navy uniforms in winter. Armored soldiers, cavalry and paratroopers wear breeches. Officers wear rank epaulettes when wearing uniforms. Military service collar, big hat with red five-star badge on August 1st, armed band of schools and junior officers. The color of the uniform varies according to the service.
1955 when awarded the title, the PLA had five services: army, navy, air force, air defense force and public security force. According to military uniforms and rank marks, it is still divided into three series: land, sea and air, that is, the colors of air defense forces and public security forces are the same as those of the army, and the air force and navy are self-contained. The main arms are infantry, artillery, armored force, engineering corps, railway corps, signal corps, chemical defense corps and marine corps (1abolished in June 1957 and rebuilt in the 1970s). Ranks vary from Grand Marshal to Private, and * * * is set to 6 and 19, so the identification symbols are very complicated.
Epaulettes. Marshal's epaulettes: China people and Grand Marshal China: full of gold, red border, national emblem and Grand Marshal's star emblem are wrapped in pine branches; China people and state marshal: full gold, red border, national emblem, marshal star emblem. General epaulettes: general: all gold, 4 general star emblems; Admiral: all gold, 3 upper general's emblems; Captain and general: all gold, 2 general star emblems; Major general: pure gold, 1 universal star emblem. University official epaulettes: advanced universities: 2 vertical lines and 4 university-level star emblems; Captain: 2 vertical lines and 3 school-level star emblems; Lieutenant Colonel: 2 vertical lines and 2 school-level star emblems; Major: 2 vertical lines, 1 school star emblem. Captain's epaulettes: David: 1 vertical line, captain rank 4-star badge; Captain: 1 vertical line, captain rank 3-star badge; Captain: 1 vertical line, 2-star badge; Second Lieutenant: 1 vertical bar, 1 star badge of the rank of captain; Warrant officer: 1 vertical line, without the star emblem of the rank of captain. Epaulettes for petty officers and soldiers (only applicable to marine corps uniforms); Staff sergeant: 1 wide horizontal line; Sergeant: 3 narrow horizontal lines; Corporal: 2 narrow horizontal lines; First-class sailor: 1 narrow horizontal line; Sailor: There is no horizontal line on the bottom plate.
Collar. 1955 when the title was first awarded, there were two kinds of badges: the rank badge and the service mark badge. Soldiers wear rank badges, and officers wear service marks badges.
Hat badge. The only difference between hat badge and military service is: the army: wearing a five-star and a round hat badge with peripheral equipment; Navy: compared with the army hat badge, the iron anchor pattern is pressed behind the August 15 star; Air Force: Compared with the army hat badge, the pattern of the eagle wings is behind the August 15 th star. Border guards: compared with the military cap badge, the shield pattern is behind the August 15 th star; The public security forces wear flag-shaped hat badges that radiate light around them.
After 1958, the military rank clothing was revised many times, and the most controversial sailor boat cap was cancelled. Officers' wide-brimmed hats are only used on special occasions, and they are also changed into liberation hats at ordinary times.
New clothes, epaulettes, collars, armbands and professional service marks have been put into use for more than two years, and suggestions have been put forward to improve the standards and materials of some military uniforms, epaulettes and collars.
At that time, I had the biggest problem with soldiers' caps. First, because American soldiers and Kuomintang soldiers are used to wearing boat hats; Second, the standard way to wear a ship's hat is to wear it askew, which is not in line with the aesthetic habits of China people. Many people, especially soldiers, are disgusted with this boat-shaped hat. The boat hat is required to be worn obliquely to the right, and the brim is one finger wide from the right eyebrow and two fingers wide from the left eyebrow. China people (especially farmers) have never been used to wearing hats askew, which is even more ugly, with half a bald head on the left. So the reaction inside and outside the army is very strong.
On May 30, 1957, the People's Liberation Army Daily published an article entitled "Comrades inside and outside the army have opinions on boat-shaped hats", which stirred up a thousand waves with one stone. Almost every day, hundreds of readers, from different regions and different jobs, write articles and letters to the People's Liberation Army newspaper in their own names or jointly by several people, express their feelings and suggest the reform of ship caps. Many comrades wrote that after reading the above-mentioned articles in the People's Liberation Army Daily, they felt that they spoke their minds for the soldiers, and they were very happy and agreed. Zhu Chi, commander of Nanjing Army Command, wrote: "It is not the opinion of a few people to reform the boat hat. No matter in the army or in the office, I have never heard of the advantages of a boat hat. " He believes that soldiers are unwilling to wear boat-shaped hats, which makes them look listless and often complain; The masses don't like boat hats, and many young people don't want to join the army because they are afraid that wearing boat hats will affect military service; When soldiers refused to wear them, officers criticized them, which also affected the relationship between officers and soldiers. Tang Tianxiang, corporal of the Political Department of the 3402 Army, said: "I was punished several times for wearing a boat hat in the army. Wearing a boat hat also caused my mother's anger, saying that I didn't look like a man. I'm sorry about that, too. I enlisted in the army, but I didn't expect to make trouble for the boat hat. "
Other opinions mainly include: the back of officer's epaulettes is too hard, which is not conducive to practice and work. The epaulettes of former officers can be divided into gold and silver. Military and political cadres are required to wear gold epaulettes, while logistics cadres and scientific and technological cadres wear silver epaulettes. As a result, there has been a reflection of "yellow card hard, white card soft". The materials used by officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers at all levels in summer clothes are different, which affects the unity between higher and lower levels; Second, it does not meet the economic conditions of China. The uniforms of non-commissioned officers and soldiers used to be tight cuffs, which were sultry in summer and frozen in winter, which made soldiers feel very inconvenient.
In view of the above opinions, the Ministry of National Defense issued an order to modify some existing military uniforms, epaulettes and badges to the whole army on June 1958+ 10/8.
1In July, 958, the enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission made the Resolution on Amending the Clothing System, changing the boat-shaped hats of soldiers in the army and air force into liberation hats, and changing the officers' large-brimmed hats into liberation hats on occasions such as festivals and diplomatic occasions. The size of the cap badge changes accordingly.
Starting from 1960, in order to improve the adjustability and neatness of the PLA's winter clothing season, a reform has been carried out with the structural collocation of winter clothing as the main content, that is, multi-level winter clothing consists of blouses, tight cotton-padded clothes, cashmere pants and shirt pants. Before 1964, the PLA had been implementing a single-level clothing supply system. Only the "old cotton-padded jacket" that has been equipped with troops for a long time for economic reasons has no sweaters and blouses. When wearing, you can only take off your cotton-padded jacket and wear a light coat. Without intermediate adjustment level, the adjustment of clothing warmth can not adapt to seasonal changes. 196110/On 9 October, the office meeting of the Central Military Commission adopted the reform plan of matching clothes, and 1962 was finalized for production, named "Type 62", and the troops were equipped in 1964. The equipment of Type 62 clothing has ended the long history of the PLA's single-level winter clothing, improved the adjustment performance and sanitary performance of winter clothing, and raised the overall level of PLA military uniforms to a new height.
Equipping Type 55 military uniform is a major reform in the history of PLA military uniform. It broke through the history of the PLA's single uniform for the first time and greatly improved the PLA's military outlook. This is a new starting point in the development history of the PLA and a successful reform. After ten years of continuous improvement, the 55-type military rank clothing has been perfected day by day, which has taken the first step towards the systematic and serialized development of the PLA military uniform, greatly improving the PLA's military capabilities and embodying the prestige of the army. 1965 in may, with the abolition of the rank system, the 55-type military uniform also disappeared from the ranks of the army.