1969 Officer Pattern Shoulder Boards
for Greatcoat and Jacket (Four sided)

Displayed in this section are the common four-sided shoulder boards worn by officers of the Soviet ground forces following order No. 417 of the Soviet Ministry of Defense on 30 May 1969.  These boards were authorized to be worn on all suit jackets and great coats.  Each rank board was sewn directly onto the shoulder of each jacket or coat.

Rank boards of this period came in four distinct variations for each rank: Parade, Service, Greatcoat, and Field.  Parade rank boards were worn with the formal wave green uniforms.  As had been the case with the earlier pattern boards, these worn by army branch members differed from those of support service members by being gold rather than silver.  Additionally, the secondary color of the support service members included magenta, where the army used only black and red.  Service rank boards were used for everyday functions and occasionally in the field.  The grey boards worn with the greatcoat were used in cold weather environments.  Field boards were identical to service boards but used green painted stars in place of the shiny gold colored ones.

Marshals and Chief Marshals were only appointed to Artillery, Armor, Signals, Engineering, and Aviation.  The technical troops (road building, railroad, chemical, motor, and topographic) did not have designated marshal or chief marshal over their services. <4>

The highest ranks were unavailable to members of the support services.  The highest rank within the administrative service was colonel, the veterinary service could only attain the rank of lieutenant general, while the others could reach the rank of colonel-general.  Officers who desired to promote above these ranks would have to change their billet within the unit and progress from that point. <4>

 Generals and Marshals

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(except Administrative)

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 Senior Officer

M-1969 Officer Pattern
Shoulder Boards for Shirt (Six-sided)

This section will describe the shoulder rank boards that were worn on the shirt sleeve uniforms established in 1966.  As the only army shirt sleeve uniform in use at the time was the M-66 green service shirt, only service boards were authorized.  No parade version existed during the period.

These boards were designed to be slipped through loops on the shoulders of a uniforms and secured by a 14mm button pushed through the board and sewn directly to the shirt.  The gold colored button featured a star with hammer and sickle design on it.

Furthermore, the officer's branch of service was indicated by a branch of service pin placed on the board just below the button.  This can be seen in our examples below.

 Generals and Marshals

 Senior Officer

 Junior Officer

1971 Pattern Warrant Officer Shoulder
Boards for Greatcoat and Jacket (Four sided)<3>

The establishment of the rank of Praporchik in 1971 introduced the rank boards of this section.  Praporchik boards for the greatcoat and jacket came in four distinct versions.  All were designed to be sewn directly onto the shoulders of the uniform in a manner identical to that of the officer rank boards.

Color of the rank boards varied depending on whether they were everyday dress, for the greatcoat, or for field use.  Furthermore, the everyday rank boards differed in color depending on what branch of the army the soldier belonged to.  Those in motor rifle, medical, or band units wore red boards with their everyday uniform, while all others wore black boards.  The rank boards worn with the great coat were grey.  The stars of all the boards were gold in color.

Shoulder boards worn by praporchiks in the field were green with green painted stars (although it was common to see boards with gold stars as well).

 Warrant Officer

1971 Pattern Warrant Officer
Shoulder Boards for Shirt (Six-sided) <3>

In this section are shown the shoulder boards worn by praporchiks on the green shirt sleeve uniform after their establishment in 1971.  These rank boards came only in green service versions, as parade boards had not yet been authorized.

These boards were designed to be slipped through loops on the shoulders of a uniforms and secured by a 14mm button pushed through the board and sewn directly to the shirt.  The gold colored button featured a star with hammer and sickle design on it.  In contrast to the officer boards of this type, a the branch of service pin was not worn by warrant officers on these shoulder boards.

 Warrant Officer

In this section the rank boards of conscripts and enlisted extended service personnel of the Soviet ground forces.  All of these boards were designed to be sewn directly onto the shoulders of the uniform.

For the everyday uniforms rank was shown by means of yellow stripes sewn or glued onto the board above the Cyrillic 'CA' letters which were an abbreviation for 'Soviet Army'.  The rank stripes came in two versions - a thin 12mm version for ranks below senior sergeant and a thick 27mm stripe for those above the rank of sergeant.

Field uniforms used red striping sewn or glued onto the shoulders of the uniforms (some of which had built in khaki colored straps, others did not).  It should be noted that it was not uncommon to see soldiers using everyday boards in the field.

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