Page 4 CLOTHING

RCMP INSIGNIA RCMP Clothing

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clothing red serge

clothing officer red

There are no patches, badges, collar dogs or shoulder titles on this one. This one would use the gold cord shoulder boards which are STILL NEEDED - and I

STILL NEED the embroidered crowns and pips that are used with them.

This one is a bit too small for me. I can put it on just fine, but can't button it closed, so I guess I need another one that will fit me. But this one looks great.

RCMP INSIGNIA

RCMP UNIFORMS

RCMP clothing

page 4

Here is a red serge, corporal rank. Based on a tag inside, this dates from 1981.

It has the GRC RCMP shoulder titles, the collar dogs, 2 stars on the left shoulder each indicating 5 years of service, the corporal chevrons on the upper right sleeve and the rifle marksmanship badge on the lower left sleeve.

While this is a bit old, it has no rips, tears etc.

About the only thing wrong with this, is that the sleeves are 3 inches (7.6 cm) too long on me.

Since there are clothing items from several ranks pictured here, note the number of people holding each rank as of September 1, 2011, per the RCMP web site:

Commissioner 1

Deputy Commissioner 9

Assistant Commissioner 25

Chief Superintendent 51

Superintendent 186

Inspector 440

Corps Sergeant Major 1

Sergeants Major 3

Staff Sergeants Major 16

Staff Sergeants 942

Sergeants 2,140

Corporals 3,672

Constables 11,717

Special Constables 78

Here is an RCMP officer's tunic. It is the Full Dress No. 1 issue.

Note the blue around the cuffs to distinguish an officer from a distance.

It has no tag inside. The person from whom I obtained this said that he has had it since the 1980s.

It is missing the buttons on the epaulettes. Not only that, but the buttons were meant to be screwed into the shoulders. I obviously need these types of buttons for this outfit.

clothing button

ABOVE -- RCMP button from the top pictured red serge, from 1981

BELOW -- 3 more pics from the top RCMP red serge pictured.

clothing stars

Each star indicates 5 years of service. In police departments that use some type of badges or patches on the sleeves to indicate years of service, it is not unusual for the rookies to be referred to as slick sleeved due to having no indication of years of service.

clothing corporal

BELOW - note the design in the red fabric. Agencies are very specific about exact placement of anything on the uniform (as they should be).

clothing red sleeve

BELOW -- old style RCMP brown serge, Sergeant rank. Has the older style shoulder flash. The lower left sleeve shows the badges for rifle and revolver marksmanship, plus Musical Ride.

clothing brown sergeant

BELOW 2 pics -- closeups of the RCMP sergeant chevrons and the left sleeve badges.

clothing sergeant

clothing sleeve

clothing brown corporal

ABOVE -- another old RCMP brown serge, Corporal rank. Has a slip on rank item on the left epaulette. Has the very old black shoulder emblem plus 2 stars to show 10 years of service. The collar dogs are light weight silver colored with no enamel.

BELOW -- old blue RCMP coat for a superintendent -- the pic after this shows the shoulder insignia. The collar dogs are gold colored.

clothing superintendent

BELOW -- a closeup of the blue RCMP Superintendent coat just above, showing the shoulder insignia, a collar dog and the sewn on ribbon for the Long Service Good Conduct medal with 2 silver stars for 30 years of service. You can also see the RCMP crest on the silver buttons.

clothing blue

clothing ribbon

ABOVE -- a closeup of the RCMP Superintendent's ribbon with attached bar.

BELOW -- RCMP loose metal bars with 1, 2 and 3 stars, which go on the 20 years of service ribbon pictured above. Each star added to the ribbon indicates an additional 5 years of service. I think the bars are supposed to be bronze, silver and gold, respectively. In the pic above, the ribbon has the silver bar with 2 stars.

clothing loose metal

clothing ribbon

ABOVE -- a loose unsewn thin ribbon for the RCMP Long Service Good Conduct award, to attach to the uniform; no pin on the back since it is to be sewn on.

BELOW -- a closeup of the shoulder insignia on the RCMP Superintendent's coat.

clothing coat

clothing collar

ABOVE -- closeup of one of the RCMP Superintendent's gold plated collar dogs. Note the lack of any enamel. Their use was discontinued around 1964.

BELOW - an old pea coat for a Staff Sergeant - Arctic issue. It has RCMP shoulder insignia though you can't see that. The inside is bright red. Almost looks like you could reverse the coat and have it double as a red serge (just kidding). Inside the coat is a tag with the date of 1964. A closeup of the chevrons is below this pic.

clothing pea coat

clothing pea coat close

ABOVE -- a closeup of the chevrons on the RCMP pea coat - plus you can see the RCMP crest on a nearby button.

BELOW -- old RCMP nylon Patrol jacket with prior issue shoulder flash.

clothing nylon jacket

ABOVE -- some RCMP duty shirts. The current style one is at far Right.

ABOVE --- RCMP shoulder flash, attached to a pull down flap on the front of the vests, with the word POLICE below the flash. The gray material in the bottom area is highly reflective.

BELOW - an old RCMP forage/duty hat with the King's Crown hat badge and yellow piping near the top. The 2 side buttons both have King's Crowns.

BELOW - closeup of the above RCMP hat badge.

BELOW - old RCMP fur cap with King's Crown hat badge. Not sure exactly how old this is. The front flap has been sewn into the top area of the hat so that the front flap never falls down. The 2 lugs on the back of the hat badge were removed and a screw & bolt installed, and the hat badge screws on to the hat flap.

clothing fur

BELOW -- a closeup of the above RCMP hat badge.

BELOW -- RCMP forage hat with the current lower ranks hat badge. Note the yellow band -- this piece of cloth can be removed in warmer weather, showing the yellow mesh underneath it.

clothing hat current

The yellow band on the ladies' hat below is narrower than on all the other hats.

ABOVE -- RCMP hat for female constables. Inside it's dated 1988. This one has a staybrite badge affixed. I believe these became obsolete around 1990, when the female and male officers wore the same hats.

BELOW -- old RCMP hat for Inspectors and Superintendents. Also has an old style hat badge. These hat badges are interesting because the center silver part with the bison and the word, Canada, are metal. The rest of the item is the thick metallic stitching commonly referred to as bullion thread. So the hat piece is combined cloth and metal.

clothing hat inspectors

ABOVE -- RCMP hat for Chief Superintendents and Assistant Commissioners.

ABOVE -- RCMP hat for a Deputy Commissioner or the Commissioner. There are 9 Deputy Commissioner positions in the RCMP, and of course, only one Commissioner. Only these ten people wear the hat with two rows of gold maple leaves on the peak (visor in the US). This photo was angled so you can see the peak better. BELOW is a group shot.

ABOVE - 6 different RCMP hats. All of these were pictured above, but I like group photos to let you quickly see the similarities and differences in the hats - for example, in this picture, it's easier to tell that the yellow band on the female constable's hat is thinner than the yellow band on all the other hats.

BELOW -- RCMP Stetson that came to me with the corporal's red serge shown way above. So this may be from 1981 or earlier. It's in great shape with no holes; as a plus, it even fits.

clothing stetson

BELOW -- a pic of the RCMP logo found on the inside of the hatband.

clothing hatband

BELOW -- a pic of the manufacturer's name, Biltmore.

clothing biltmore

clothing breeches

ABOVE -- the RCMP breeches that came with the top red serge pictured (from 1981). On the metal tags on the suspender straps is the word, Police. See pic just below.

clothing metal tags

ABOVE --
Here are 3 different sets of RCMP pants. Left to Right, are overalls, trousers and breeches.

LEFT - The pants with straps at the ends of the legs are known as overalls. They are often referred to as banana pants. This particular pair has a tag inside indicating these were made in 1954. There is also a handwritten 5-digit number, 15774, on the waistband, believed to be the Member's number. The yellow stripe is 1 3/4 inches thick (45 mm).

CENTER - The pants with straight legs and no straps are known as trousers. On this pair, the yellow stripe is 1 inch thick (25 mm).

RIGHT - The pants with the laces on the leg bottoms are known as breeches. These are the ones that "puff out" near the thighs. The yellow stripe is 1 3/4 inches thick (45 mm). Sometimes these come with suspenders. There are also breeches with the inside thighs reinforced, for the Members of the Musical Ride due to increased wear from riding horses.

clothing lanyard

ABOVE -- Neck lanyard. The part that's curled up at Left is the large loop that goes around the neck. The smaller loop at Right goes on the gun.

BELOW -- the RCMP yellow hatband that goes around the duty/forage caps in colder weather.

clothing yellow hatband

clothing buckle

ABOVE -- This is an RCMP authorized reproduction of the North West Mounted Police Officers' waist or belt plate.

This item was used to fasten the sword belts of the new uniform.

The replica shown is made of zinc. The buffalo head is plated with rhodium while the remainder is plated with 24 karat gold. It was manufactured by Canadian Buttons Limited of Montreal to commemorate the 100th anniversary of The Force- as a limited edition of 1,000.

BELOW -- 2 RCMP Sam Browne belts with cross straps. The bottom one appears to be unused. The top one has the officer's name printed on the other side of the belt and the letters RCMP are hand printed on the back of the belt. Both of these have a handcuff case and an ammo pouch. The Bottom one also has the round flashlight holder attached to the belt. I believe the top one was issued starting in 1968 and the bottom one was issued starting in 1976.

clothing sam browne

BELOW - a nice RCMP belt buckle, but not a uniform item.

clothing belt buckle

ABOVE -- RCMP brass belt buckle with RCMP crest. Not a uniform item, but still nice looking.

BELOW -- I have seen old pics of this type and style of belt buckle. It was worn by members of the NWMP long ago.

clothing old belt

BELOW -- RCMP tie bar with detailed crest. I believe this was an old uniform item. I think there were both gold and silver versions.

clothing tie bar

ABOVE -- NWMP coat button.

ABOVE -- RNWMP coat button.

ABOVE -- RCMP coat button with King's Crown.

ABOVE -- RCMP coat button.

ABOVE -- RCMP boots - no laces. These boots are in great shape. They are approximately 18 inches (46 cm) tall. I was told the lower set of laces are approximately 52 inches long (132 cm). Still need all the laces. Also need to know how to lace these up in a way that would make a drill instructor proud. If there are instructions for that, please send them my way.

On October 11, 2011, a similar pair of used RCMP boots sold on ebay for $277.

ABOVE -- RCMP spurs - 2 sets. The top set is believed to be older and has the tabs and straps.

While I am uncertain of the dates that each of these sets were used, the top pair was with a red serge outfit that also had breeches and a stetson. The serge inside tag said it was made in 1981.

The top set uses the leather tabs and straps. The buckles are worn toward the outside, so you are viewing them with the right one and the left one in their proper positions. These are not the true long shank spurs; these are actually short shank. The long shank spurs were discontinued around 1969 after recruits stopped taking equestrian training. One reason for switching to the shorter shank spurs was to make it easier to drive a vehicle with them. A lot of Members still prefer the long shanks because they are traditional, are of better quality, and look sharp. On the Internet, you can see photos of Members wearing both types of pictured spurs, and some are wearing spurs like the top ones with even longer shanks-- the true long shank spurs.

TOP SET -- The spurs with the leather are for the high brown boots (spur tab covers the laces and buckle to outside, strap under the boot) - and, like on these, the leather is often labeled L on one and R on the other, for Left and Right, as they can be mistakenly put on backwards. The nipple of the spur (not sure what it is called) points downward.

BOTTOM SET -- these spurs are called 'box spurs' and go with the 'walking out' order of dress. The center stem actually goes into a box contained in the heel of the dress black ankle boots called 'congress boots'. The bottom set is newer style and this set does not require the straps and tabs.

Somewhere on both sets, it says that these were made in England.

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