Uniforms

The uniforms of the United States Marine Raider Division serve to distinguish its members from members of other units of the US Armed Forces. There are a variety of uniforms for different components of the division, and each component has a utility uniform, a service uniform, and a dress uniform.

1st Regiment
The 1st Marine Raider Regiment's original uniforms start in the Revolutionary War. Enlisted men wore a white uniform with a blue Continental coat with red facings and white buttons, as well as a tricorne hat with white trim and a red and blue cockade to identify the regiment Officers' uniforms were mostly the same, except the coat was double breasted with epaulets. This uniform stayed in service as the only uniform of the 1st Regiment until the end of the 18th century. Beginning with the Barbary War, but seen the most in the War of 1812, the new uniform of the 1st Regiment was composed of a single-breasted coatee in continental blue with a red collar and cuffs, with white binding lace. The tricorne was replaced by a yeoman pattern shako with the regimental crest with a red rope. Officers wore the same, except the coatee was replaced by a double-breasted tailcoat with epaulets. In the 1830s, a distinction was made between a dress and combat uniform. The dress uniform stayed relatively the same, retaining the shako and standardizing a new tailcoat with white buttons, but without the binding lace for all ranks. The combat uniform consisted of a new all-black forage cap and a blue roundabout (which was of a darker blue than the one used by other US infantry, making recognizing the regiment easier) with white cuffs and collar for enlisted men, while officers wore the same forage cap, but a double-breasted frock coat instead of the roundabout. This uniform would see use through the Mexican-American War and into the 1850s. Before, during, and after the Civil War, the the frock coat became standard for men of all ranks, single-breasted for enlisted and double for officers. The 1st Regiment did not adopt the Albert Cap or the Army Hat, electing instead the forage cap or kepi as an all-purpose hat.