The Red Army saw massive reform and modernization effort in the 1930s. The changes in ranks and rank insignia of the Red Army between 1935 and 1945 were no exception to this, and were characterized by these reforms leading up to Operation Barbarossa (The invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941) and the war of national survival that would envelope the Soviet Union for the next 4 years.
New individual rank insignia of the Red Army was established by orders 2590 and 2591, active starting September 22, 1935. This was primarily directed at supreme commanders, commanding officers, and personnel in charge and control in the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (RKKA), published by order number 176 of the USSR People’s Commissariat of Defense, on December 3, 1935. A new rank was also created, Marshal of the Soviet Union, by order of the USSR Central Executive Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars from September 22, 1935, onward. This new rank would serve as the new highest rank in the Red Army, held by only 5 men at any given time. On August 5, 1937 the rank of Junior Lieutenant would be created, and in 1939 the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and Battalion Commissar were added to the 1935 order.
Corps colors were also established and are as follows: Infantry – Raspberry with black pipping, Artillery – Black with red pipping, Armor – Black with red piping, Air Force – Light blue with black pipping, Cavalry – Blue with black pipping, Engineers – Black with black pipping, Technical Troops – Black with black pipping, Medical – Dark green with red pipping, NKVD – Red with raspberry pipping, and Border Guards – Green with raspberry pipping.
Crops Colors 1935
Red Army political insignia would follow a similar pattern to the 1935 regular army insignia, starting however at the senior NCO rank. Every political officer also wore a political staff sleeve star. This insignia was reserved for political officers only and rank was named differently than their army counterparts. For example, a political officer with the same rank as a Senior Lieutenant would not be classified as such, rather a Politruk. Political insignia remained unchanged until the role of Political Commissar was “dissolved” (renamed) in late 1942. Starting in 1943, political officers would adhere to the new rank and insignia regulations brought into service on January 15.
In 1940 the Red Army would slightly modify its exiting 1935 regulation insignia, maintaining the same corps colors, adding military branch pips, and adding a red stripe with a gold triangle for junior commanders. This would remain the case until August 1, 1941 with the “subduing order”. The same 1935 pattern would remain the same for 1940 and 1941, consisting of triangles for Junior Commanders (NCOs), squares for Middle Commanders, rectangles for Senior Commanders, and diamonds for Supreme Commanders.
On 1 August, 1941 the order came to modify military insignia once again to a “subdued” green color in response to Operation Barbarossa. All combat troops would now wear a solid green colored collar insignia, with no branch pips. These insignia were made from cotton flannel, tunic material, or more rarely, wool. Rank was still shown with enameled red or green triangles for NCOs, and squares, rectangles, and diamonds for officers. Diamond shaped patches were worn on the overcoat, in the subdued color. This change did not take effect until early/mid 1942, it is extremely uncommon to see soldiers wearing this style of insignia prior to 1942 and would be changed again in 1943.
On January 6, 1943, the Soviet Military decreed they would reintroduce the use of shoulder board rank insignia, last seen in the Russian Imperial Army during WWI. The shoulder boards were brought back in tandem with a new uniform, the Obr. 43, similar to the tunics worn by the Imperial Russian Military. The corps colors introduced in 1935, remained with minimal changes. The new shoulder boards were made from wool cloth, designed with the piping color being that of the service branch. Instead of using shapes on the uniform’s collar to determine rank (triangles, squares, rectangles, and diamonds) stripes would be used for junior commanders (NCOs), small stars for junior officers, and large starts for senior officers and generals. This order was made official on January 15, 1943 and remained in place through the remainder of the war.
All shoulder boards worn in the field were of a brownish green “subdued” color with the corps color remaining as the pipping. The modified corps colors are as follows: Infantry – Raspberry, Artillery – Red, Armor – Red, Air Force – Light blue, Cavalry – Blue, Engineers – Black, Technical Troops – Black, Medical – Red, NKVD – Bright Blue, and Border Guards – Green.
Corps Colors 1943
