INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Arm badges appeared in the Red Army already at the end of 1918.
Servicemen having no external distinctions wore the arm badges,
which marked branch-of-service or military specialty. The emblems of
the Russian Army were often used while creating arm badges. Arm
badges of military educational institutions, units and military
establishments appeared in 1919-1920. All these badges can be
considered semi-official, because they were adopted by commanders
and chiefs of various levels, but not by the Revolutionary Military
Council of the Republic. The instruction that only this body of the
highest military management had the right to adopt uniform and insignia
for the Red Army was made on April 28, 1922, in RMCR Order No
1056.
It is impossible to determine the total number of semi-official badges,
due to the fact that either there were no documents about their
establishment at all, or they were not kept. That could be the topic of
separate research.
The arm badges of the USSR Armed Forces can be divided into 7
groups marking:
1. Position and rank.
2. Branch-of-service.
3. Specialty.
4. Belonging to the State and the Armed Forces.
5. Belonging to particular military formations.
6. Years of service and training.
7. Badges, worn when on duty.