Military uniform: Development, importance and meaning

Abstract

This paper has been written with the intention to emphasize that the military uniform - its emergence, development, changes, quality and symbols highlighted on it clearly point to social and cultural patterns and effects that the military organization underwent in its historical course. Furthermore, the paper shows that the military uniform should meet two key requirements: the suitability for execution of assigned tasks within defined missions, on the one hand, and raising the 'combat spirit' of the armed forces members, on the other hand. If the military uniform is understood as a language that speaks to us and which communicates something, then the meaning of symbols and labels on it, as well as the uniform as a symbol itself, can be analyzed. Therefore, the meaning of a uniform as a symbolic language is in the expression of the characteristics of the military as the social institution and the characteristics of the military profession.

Keywords

• uniform
• sign
• symbol
• characteristics of the military
• characteristics of the military profession