Uniforms of the Commissars of the Czecho-Slovak Legion

All material and reconstructions are by A. Karevskiy.

The main sources for this material are:

Tatarov, B. "Czechoslovak Military Formations in Russia: Part 1, 1917-1918 // Staryi Tseykhgauz, No. 5-6", Moscow, 2015. pp. 54-76; and " ... Part 2, 1919-1920 // Staryi Tseykhgauz, No. 3", Moscow, 2016, pp.73-83.

Orian, E., Panus, B., Stechlik, E. and Steidler, F. "Ceskoslovenska Legie v Rusku, 1914-1920", Prague, 2014.

Bullock, D. "The Czech Legion // Men-at-Arms No. 447", Oxford, 2007.

Various sleeve insignia of military commissars, after the 30 December 1917 order;
1 – the official version; 2 – variant used by Josef David (Latin letters "ČSNS");
3 – variant used by Jiří Klecanda; 4 – the most common variant, lacking any letter cipher;
5 – a variant with silver and red braid replaced by a white and red ribbon;
6 – variant used in the 4th Regiment; 7 – variant used by František Vildman, 4th Regiment;
8 – common early variant, a ribbon chevron sewn directly onto the left sleeve

Order No. 15 of 30 December 1917 stated:

§3. ... For officers of all branches of the armed forces and for representatives at the corps headquarters and headquarters, the shield is trimmed with raspberry piping.

§7. For authorised representatives at headquarters, one stripe shall be silver and the other red, as shown in the sample.

In a drawing as an appendix to the order, a "commissar" is indicated under the appropriate shield. The cipher is in the form of metal letters "ЧСНС" arranged in a cross.

Uniforms of commissars

Figures 2 and 4 are representatives of the 4th Regiment, with its characteristic headgear – the sidecaps called chechenki, named for their designer, S. Čeček, the regiment's commander.

Uniforms of commissars

Judging by photographs, the commissars did not adhere to any uniformity in their uniforms, using whatever clothing was available.

Uniforms of commissars

Open tunics with shirts and ties were quite common among commissars, but were unusual with the troops.