India celebrated 74th Army Day on January 15, 2022. Each year on this day, the soldiers of the army are honoured, who have served the nation selflessly and set the greatest example of brotherhood.

On April 1, 1895, the Indian Army was officially established. However, in 1949, once India got its independence, the Army got its first chief. It was on this historical day, the formal handing over of the Indian Army took place. General Sir Francis Butcher handed over the baton to Lieutenant General KM Cariappa. Therefore, each year, it is celebrated on 15th January. The main event is the parade, at Cariappa Parade Ground at Delhi Cantt. 

The events of the display series included an arsenal of weapons and platforms including drones, Advanced Light Helicopters, the new Light Combat Helicopter from the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which the Indian Army has plans to deploy in the Galwan sector soon.

The Army Day Parade this year was a different event not just because of the pandemic but the factor making it different from other past events is the debut appearance of the new combat uniform of the Indian Army. The new uniform has been designed by the National Institute of Technology in collaboration with the Indian army. The uniform is designed to serve the two basic crucial functions. First, protection against harsh climatic conditions, including extreme heat and cold. Second, the need to provide soldiers’ outfits with field camouflage, to increase his battlefield survivability. Here, on the occasion of the 74th Army day, we will trace the development of military field combat uniforms through the British era to the present.

The conceptual tradition of military field uniforms was brought to India through the British East India Company. They had divided the country into three presidencies -the Bengal presidency, Bombay presidency and Madras presidency. Therefore, they instituted separate dress uniforms and combat uniforms for each three of these. The Sepoy (sipahi) serving the British forces were following the partly red attire of  British tradition embroidered with trimmings of three different colours, each signifying the three presidencies. These were red (Bengal presidency), grey (Bombay presidency) and yellow (Madras presidency). The colours were predominantly visible in the ceremonial dress and mess uniform with each presidency’s daily combat dress uniform also often bearing edgings of their respective colours.

In times of dire emergency, such as the 1857 revolt, it became essential for the British to quickly raise uniformed forces to quell the mutiny. Thus, cavalry units in Punjab called Risalas were raised. This method, known as the ‘silladar‘ system, recruited soldiers who brought along their weapons, equipment and horses. Instead of a salary, these fighters were permitted to keep the loot that came their way. There was no time to arrange for uniforms for these ad hoc soldiers, thus they were identified by ad hoc methods, such as coloured sashes or turbans. For example, one of the most effective and feared silladar units, known as Hodson’s Horse after its founder, Major W SR Hodson, required its soldiers to wear scarlet cummerbunds (waist sashes) and turbans to identify itself in battle. One of the British officers observed that the unit’s scarlet accoutrements made it look like a flight of flamingos as it galloped into battle, the unit adopted the nom de guerre of ‘The Flamingos’. This unit, now an armoured tank regiment, still bears that informal appellation.

Post-1857, all three presidencies were dissolved to the  British crown and, in successive waves of restructuring, were allotted formal uniforms. The army retained in its uniforms reminders of  their ethnic origin and excellence, such as the Khukri- a deadly curved knife which every Gorkha soldier carry with themselves on their belt even today while marching through their way on the tunes of Badluram ka Badan Zameen ke neeche hai, or hame uska rashan milta hai (Badluram’s body is buried but we get his rations”)

With partition leading to the division of the Indian Army into the Indian and Pakistani armies in 1947, there were major changes to the uniforms each army wore. The Indian army adopted olive green as the basic colour of its uniform, the Pakistan army uniforms underwent major changes with the basic colour of its uniform being changed to khaki. The British crown was replaced by the Ashoka emblem in the Indian Army and other changes were also made in the rank badges and unit insignia. 

The next major changes were made after the 1962 war, in the wake of the dire need for adequate clothing and equipment for high altitude zones (like Ladakh and  North East Frontier Agency -now Arunachal Pradesh). The cotton fabric was replaced by material better suited for those Himalayan altitudes. The Siachen Glacier face-off in 1984, led to the next qualitative jump. With the deployment of Indian units in the glacier, they were introduced to Austrian alpine clothing and climbing equipment and, before 27th December 2021  India used to buy its extreme cold weather clothing (ECWC) from European alpine suppliers. Later, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief handed over the duty to five Indian companies in New Delhi.

The second last change in the series came in 1980 when the Indian army replaced the old cotton olive green combat dress with a “disruptive pattern” battle dress ensuring the best camouflage possible.