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When the United States Army began in 1775, NCOs wore their stripes point down. This continued until about 1903. Here's the question: WHY?? I have been looking for years and I can't find an explanation. I found the memorandum instituting the change and the fact that it took about 2 years to implement, but I can't find out why. Does anyone know and can you cite a source?
History (Major)
Military History
NCOs
Rank
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 18
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CW2 Kantor,
It would appear that you have just won the internet. It seems you have found that one unanswerable question. I also have wondered about it and never found an answer (though with my attention span, I never looked too hard).
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CW2 Jonathan Kantor
That is a very interesting document and I am using it as a resource for a Civil War game I am developing! I didn't really see a true explanation for the switch though.
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Same reason USArmy started wearing Black Berets, ASR,OSR,NPDR, some damned officer,usually a general thought it was a good idea. But nobody wants to admit that they did it.
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Heard the army did something bad so for all y time they had to wear the stripes upside down for a long v time to redeem themselves
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I think the USAF made one of the dumbest changes in rank insignia in the DOD. The top stripes are crazy. For nearly 40 years or better two over were good enough. Also they looked good. Now the 3 over and five under looks crazy. This was explained to me so we could recognize the top three. I knew exactly what I was and what my stripes meant. I was a Master Sergeant. So over a years or so time I had to change every set of chevrons on all my uniforms. Just like when they did away with aircrew style badges. Some E9’s got their feelings being called “Sarge”.
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Here is the "best" information I can find:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elihu_Root
Elihu Root basically "reformed the War Department from 1899-1904.
Prior to that, things like Ranks and Uniforms were far from "standardized"
As an example, the USMC had been "points up" during the Civil War era which looks like a pretty close approximation of our modern (through the DoW to DoD transition) system.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elihu_Root
Elihu Root basically "reformed the War Department from 1899-1904.
Prior to that, things like Ranks and Uniforms were far from "standardized"
As an example, the USMC had been "points up" during the Civil War era which looks like a pretty close approximation of our modern (through the DoW to DoD transition) system.
Elihu Root (/ˈɛlɪhjuː ˈruːt/; February 15, 1845– February 7, 1937) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the Secretary of State under President Theodore Roosevelt and as Secretary of War under Roosevelt and President William McKinley. He moved frequently between high-level appointed government positions in Washington, D.C. and private-sector legal practice in New York City. For that reason, he is sometimes considered to be the...
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Look at our history- the British Army wears/wore theirs down- we copied and hen eventually decided to be markedly different
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lol . It threw me for a loop when I got "promoted " to Corporal in my civil war reenactment unit , having been an e4 in the Marines ....
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The United States started out life after separating from Britain. Chevrons in the British Military were worn point down. It is likely that our Military turned them point up at some point to further differentiate themselves from British cousins.
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Hi there Jonathan...My name is Hal ans i originally am from Australia....I took up residency in Ohio in 2011 and was clearing up some of my stuff i brought over with me as i bought and sold collectibles back in oz...I was actually a stamp and coin dealer but delved in all sorts of stuff..Anything to make a buck i guess....I have located some USA chevrons but cant seem to find out what rank they are or what service they belong to....I found one batch on line but all it said was used military patches which an baby coming out the womb would comprehend..helpful as yuk ay??? I am attaching pics for you and they are numbered...if you can tekll me what they are in ref to the number i would be very appreciative...if you want me to phone you, i dont mind...My email is [login to see] ......My phione number is [login to see] if you want to phone...Just so you know this is not a prank, i will still have an aussie accent...lol
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CW2 Jonathan Kantor
What you have here is a collection of US Air Force rank. The one with 3 stripes is a Senior Airman (E-4), the one with four stripes is Staff Sergeant (E-5), and the two epaulets are a type of cadet insignia. I am not certain, but they look like Army Rotc cadet PFC rank. They could be used by any number of cadet corps though so I am really not sure about that.
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Hal Nathan
For some reason i could not post all the pics i have and there is one more....The pair is from Ohio and locked into a specific county about 30 miles west of Cleveland...Is this military if some sort or is it police?? If i wanted to sell my patches, what type of price should i ask on them???
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