Why do the Carabinieri have a black uniform?

Among the Italian police forces, theCarabinieri Corps carries out activities of public securityalso being part of the armed forces of our country together with the Air Force, the Italian Army and the Navy. The Carabinieri corps refers hierarchically to the Ministry of Defence although its functions also depend on other ministries. In this article we focus on a distinctive feature of the force: the typical black uniform. In short, it consists of a jacket with four buttons, four patch pockets, shoulder pads with a silver button, and a red side band on the trousers, and is used only up to the rank of Chief Marshal. Now, have you ever wondered why the uniform is black? There are various reasons: historical, practical and symbolic. Also consider that the choice of the current look also depended on one of the greatest Italian stylists: Giorgio Armani.

The history of the Carabinieri uniforms

The Carabinieri were established on July 13, 1814with the name of Royal Carabinieri CorpsThe history of the Corps and its uniform is intertwined with that of the Italian Renaissance and to theUnification of Italy. No other military body played such an active role on Italian soil as the Carabinieri during the Risorgimento and the current components of the Carabinieri uniform are a legacy of the uniforms of the Royal Carabinieri Corps and the Royal Army..

Initially, the uniform of the Carabinieri consisted of a blue suit with a collar and light blue cuffs. Later, a grey-green jacket with four silver buttons and numerous pockets was introduced, identical to the uniform of the Royal Army, which became the symbol of Italian Unification. Only on the eve of the Second World War did the uniform begin to change: in November 1933, the so-called Baistrocchi reformfrom the name of the undersecretary of the Ministry of War, Federico Baistrocchi. With this reform the officers began to use theblack uniformthe non-commissioned officers and the Carabinieri of blue color and the gray-green uniform was assigned to the departments mobilized during the war.

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The introduction of the black uniform

During the fascist and Nazi period, the first changes in the uniforms of the Armed Forces and Police Corps began, not only in our country but also in the rest of Europe. In Nazi Germanyfor example, Hugo Boss He was the one who started producing and distributing the uniform of the Guard Staff – also known as SS, the paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, guilty of brutal crimes. Some believe that the color and style of the uniform created for the SS was inspired by the uniform of the Italian Carabinieri officers, changed with the Baistrocchi reform.

The black colour It was introduced in both the summer and winter versions for all grades and definitively only in the 90’s. In the 1998 he was the Italian stylist Giorgio Armani to change and design the new uniform of the Carabinieri as we know it today, replacing (to simplify) the khaki color used from the 30s until 1987 and the turquoise blue used for a decade from the early 90s until 1998. The new uniform designed by Armani introduced black with today’s style and features, both in the summer and winter uniform. The only element that remained the same was the bandolierthat is, the shoulder belt with pockets in which to insert ammunition, which in the case of the Carabinieri is white.

Usefulness and symbolism of the color black

The choice of the black colour is undoubtedly linked to reasons of practicality And utility: first of all it is a color easily identifiable and recognizableless susceptible to stains than other lighter shades. However, it is also important to consider the psychological component behind the choice of the black color. The black is a color sober but at the same time a symbol of authority and solemnityas well as professionalism. In the nineteenth century, the criteria of etiquette and ceremony considered it the colour to be used in contexts of formal eleganceas well as an emblem of order and discipline.