Proposed uniforms for Police Officers of the Russian Government
January 1919

All material and reconstructions are by A. Karevskiy.

On 18 December 1918 the director of the Police Department, V. N. Pepelyaev, sent the following order to the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lieutenant-Colonel V. N. Russyanov:

In order to distinguish police officers from other citizens wearing military uniforms, we need to establish a special uniform for police officers. ... I propose that you urgently form a special commission under your chairmanship at the Police Department with the following composition: the Akmolinsk Regional Commissioner, the Chief of the City Police, and two representatives from the Military and Naval Departments.

In December 1918 a first draft uniform was proposed.

The second draft is undated, but, judging by indirect evidence, it was adopted later than the first, no earlier than 15 January 1919, by a commission with a slightly different composition: Akmolinsk Regional Commissioner S. S. Rezanov, Head of the Omsk City Police, Senior Sergeant Mikhalev, representative from the Military Department, Staff-Captain Myasnikov, and from the Naval Department, Senior-Lieutenant L'vov, chaired by the Head of the State Security Department, Major-General S. A. Romanov. The project was undoubtedly a development of the previous one and differed mainly in its decorative elements, as well as in the more thorough elaboration of some details:

Tunic – black broadcloth with breast pockets with buttoned flaps, stand-up collar, five white metal buttons, elasticated back, to be worn with a yellow leather belt.

Trousers – black broadcloth with orange braid, 1/4 inch wide along the outer seam.

Greatcoat – made of sailor's cloth with a wide pleat at the back, single-breasted, with a turn-down collar, orange piping along the bottom edge, five white metal buttons with an eagle. Orange buttonhole tabs with black piping. At the back, there is a 1-inch wide strap with sewn-in edges and buttons in the middle.

Shoulder-boards – a braid of triple cord: red, blue and white, with buttons according to rank.

Kepi – black leather with orange piping around band and crown, a lacquered visor and a lacquered chin strap, a number and the coat of arms of the province or region.

Ushanka – black plain broadcloth with orange piping around the top, with ear flaps and a forehead flap made of camel cloth, padded with cotton wool, with a number and coat of arms of the province or region.

Weapons and equipment: a revolver on a yellow leather cord, one end of which is attached to the side of the jacket or coat, a cutlass and a whistle on a white metal chain. Guards also carry a white baton. For the reserve: a rifle on a yellow shoulder strap.

The distinguishing features of the mounted police were to be an orange plume 3 vershki high (on the ushanka and kepi), spurs attached to the boots, and stripes on the trousers consisting of two strips ? inch wide with a gap of the same width along the outer seam. They were to be armed with a revolver on the same yellow braided cord as the police, a sabre on a yellow leather shoulder strap and a carbine on a yellow shoulder strap.

Local supervisors were to wear the same uniform as the police, but with the addition of orange aiguillettes and the replacement of the tricolour shoulder cords with shoulder-boards of smooth silver braid on black broadcloth with orange piping, as well as one button at the top edge of the coat collar buttonholes. Instead of a cutlass, the cold weapon was to be an infantry-style sabre with an officer's sword knot on a black lacquered sword belt.

For senior police officers (district police chiefs and their assistants), it was proposed to introduce a single-breasted black broadcloth "French" with five silver buttons with an eagle, a turn-down collar, "fastened with two hooks", and a flap with two buttons similar to the side buttons. Short trousers for senior officers were to be grey-blue with orange piping. The outer garment was to be a double-breasted black broadcloth coat "with sides flaring upwards, with twelve silver-plated buttons with an eagle". The coat had a 1-inch wide flap at the back, and orange shoulder-boards with black piping and buttons at the top were sewn onto the collar. The cap for officers was to be made of black broadcloth, with silver cord sewn around the band and crown instead of piping, and the coat of arms of the province (region) and an official cockade serving as insignia. The ushanka was of the same design as that for the policemen, but with earmuffs, a neck guard and a forehead guard "made of black fur with short hair", with the provincial or regional coat of arms and a civilian cockade.

The shoulder-boards of highest ranking officers were to be made of silver "braided metal", with one or two stripes depending on the rank, with orange piping and "stars in the middle along the length of the shoulder-board". The total width of the shoulder-board with piping was to be ? vershok. Shoulder-boards for ranks VII and above were to be made of orange and silver cord, for other high ranks – of black. The armament was to consist of a revolver on a braided yellow leather cord and a dagger on a silver braid sword belt. ... Officers were to be allowed to wear trousers outside of their official uniforms. In the summer, all men could replace their broadcloth uniforms with ones made of light black fabric. The rural police, as before, were to be distinguished by gold metal fittings instead of silver.

Glazkov, V. in "Uniformed randomly and, of course, extremely diverse...: Uniforms and insignia of the Siberian police, 1918-1919 // Staryi Tseikhgauz, No 83", Moscow, 2019, pp.45-46.

Proposed uniform of the city police, based on the January 1919 designs of the Police Department Commission: summer and winter

The cap's appearance has been reconstructed based on the 1862 model police cap, which is the most suitable from the description.

Proposed insignia of city police officers, based on the January 1919 designs of the Police Department Commission

Proposed uniform for city foot policemen, based on the January 1919 designs of the Police Department Commission: 3 and 4 – senior policemen

Proposed insignia of city policemen, based on the January 1919 designs of the Police Department Commission

The number of buttons on the shoulder cord indicates the rank of junior, middle and senior police men respectively. Senior police men were distinguished by shoulder-boards with narrow [vertical] silver braid.

Proposed insignia of mounted city police, based on the January 1919 designs of the Police Department Commission: 1 and 2 – officers; 3 and 4 – men

Proposed uniform for rural police, based on the January 1919 designs of the Police Department Commission: 1 and 2 – officers; 3 – mounted policeman; 4 – foot policeman

Proposed insignia of rural police officers, based on the January 1919 designs of the Police Department Commission

Proposed insignia of rural policemen, based on the January 1919 designs of the Police Department Commission