Sergeant Stripes pointed down

[major bill]

Starting in 1818 West Point chevrons pointed up and I believe they have never pointed down.

 

[frontrank2]

Another question if I may. In the Confederate Army, why some nco's with blue chevrons, and others with black? Any rule of thumb on this? I was told a while back that black chevrons were Western theater.

 

[yellowthornoftexas]

Blood stripe, represents loss of NCO's at Battle of Chapulterec, in Mexicam American War.
Chevrons, curious as to why those decisions were made. "Heads, chevrons up, Tails, down."

 

[major bill]

Blood stripe, represents loss of NCO's at Battle of Chapulterec, in Mexicam American War.
Chevrons, curious as to why those decisions were made. "Heads, chevrons up, Tails, down."

I am fairly certain I have in the past read an article on this subject, my issue is I can not remember where. The article indicated that the "blood stripe" was Marine lore and there was no information that the red piping was selected for any particular reason. The article pointed out the the concept of a 'blood stripe" was started after the Marines adopted the red piping and there was no period discussion of . I will try to remember where I seen this article and if I can find it I will post some information from it.

 

[civilwarincolor]

I am fairly certain I have in the past read an article on this subject, my issue is I can not remember where. The article indicated that the "blood stripe" was Marine lore and there was no information that the red piping was selected for any particular reason. The article pointed out the the concept of a 'blood stripe" was started after the Marines adopted the red piping and there was no period discussion of . I will try to remember where I seen this article and if I can find it I will post some information from it.

The Stars and Stripes did an article talking about the history and the myth of the blood stripe. You can find it here.

 

[major bill]

My main problem with the 'blood stripe" is that red as a facing color had been use by the Marines back to the late 1700s. The Marine 1797 uniform had red facings and trousers with thin red piping. Stating in 1835 Marines wore a grass green uniform with buff trim, but in 1841 returned to blue coats with officers and non-commissioned officers wearing blue trousers with red stripes. In 1859 the Marines adopted their blue uniforms with red trim.

As can be seen red was used a a facing or trim color by the Marines 54 of the 60 years prior to the Mexican American War. For the 6 years the marines wore grass green unionism the Marine musicians wore red coats and usually musicals wore the facing color of the unit they were attached to. During the Mexican American War officers and NCOs wore trousers with red stripes. Unless some period documentation that states red was selected to commemorate the blood shed during the Mexican American War can be found, I have to assume that red was used on the 1859 dress uniform because red was the color traditionally used by the Marines.

I know only enough about Marine uniforms to make me look silly and will be the first to admit I an not an expert on Marine uniforms. I hope someone who is a Marine uniform expert can provide us an answer we can all trust to be true.

 

[yellowthornoftexas]

All I know is what I was taught and what's in every Marine Guidebook For Marines and EST book. Every promotion board asks the same question, "what is the meaning of the Blood Stripe on NCO and officers trousers?"
But let's not jack this topic about the Marines uniform. Let's get back on topic of chevrons.
Any new info? Or did I miss it?

 

[major bill]

I am guessing that the United States tried to follow current international trends in uniforms. To conform this theory I looked at European uniform trends especially Great Britain and France which were the uniform trend setters. Germany became a trend setter in the evolution of uniforms in the 1870s. I could not establish a link between the uniform trends in Europe and uniform trends in the United States.

Great Britain during the 1800s wore their NCO chevron pointed down.
France were late to add NCO chevron and when they did add opt them they wore their NCO chevrons pointed up.

In the early 1800s one would expect that the U.S. would follow the British trend but the U.S. wore their chevrons pointed down. In the 1850s France became the dominate military power in the minds of most people and French style uniforms became popular, yet during the 1850 the U.S. wore their NCO chevrons pointed down. The U.S. switched to wearing their NCO chevrons up around the turn of the century. In general Germany did not wear chevrons, most other European counties which wore chevrons wore them pointed down. Asian and South American nations usually followed European trends.