Political uniform

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A number of political movements have involved their members wearing uniforms, typically as a way of showing their identity in marches and demonstrations. The wearing of political uniforms has tended to be associated with radical political beliefs, typically at the far-right or far-left of politics, and can be used to imply a paramilitary type of organization.

Prohibition[edit]

A number of countries have legislation banning the wearing of political uniforms. Many also ban members of their police and armed forces from taking part in political activity when in uniform.

In Germany, political uniforms are forbidden.[1]

Political uniforms were forbidden in Sweden during the period 1933–2002. The law existed to prevent Nazi groups from wearing uniforms.[2][3]

In the United Kingdom, the Public Order Act 1936, passed to control extremist political movements in the 1930s such as the British Union of Fascists, banned the wearing of political uniforms during marches. Attempts to legislate against the wearing of political uniform were difficult to implement, due to problems with defining what constitutes political uniform, but also in determining which groups were a threat to public order.[4] Though this has rarely arisen in recent decades, in January 2015 the Leader of Britain First Paul Golding was convicted for wearing a political uniform. Later in November 2016 the deputy leader of Britain First Jayda Fransen was convicted for wearing a political uniform.

List of parties with political uniforms[edit]

Members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary street thugs of the German Nazi Party, were called "brown shirts" after the color of the party uniform. Propaganda poster showing SA uniforms from the Freikorps movements after World War I, through the party ban 1923–25, the uniform ban 1930–1931 up to 1933 when Hitler became Chancellor.

Notable uniformed political groups have included:

"Blackshirts"
"Blueshirts"
"Greenshirts"
"Redshirts"

Other:

Political uniforms have sometimes taken the form of headwear:

Other uniformed movements:

The youth sections of some political movements have also been uniformed:

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Post, Washington (5 May 2016). "'Sharia police' to face trial in Germany for violating ban on political uniforms". National Post. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  2. ^ Zander, Patrick G. (2020-10-19). Fascism through History: Culture, Ideology, and Daily Life [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 492. ISBN 978-1-4408-6194-9.
  3. ^ Walker, Samuel (1994-01-01). Hate Speech: The History of an American Controversy. U of Nebraska Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-8032-9751-7.
  4. ^ Pollen, A. 'The Public Order Act: Defining Political Uniform in 1930s Britain' in Tynan, J. and Godson, L. (eds) Uniform: Clothing and Discipline in the Modern World London: Bloomsbury, 2019, pp. 25-47