Historically, heraldry as a specific symbol language is closely related to military affairs. It, in fact, arose in the XII century in Europe among professional military men-knights and their retinue-squires to identify the status of a warrior, his national and ancestral affiliation. In Russia, it was actively developed in the late XVII-early XVIII centuries. In those days, heraldic symbols were applied in various ways (sewing, chasing, painting) to the attributes of military life and weapons. Later, family (personal and ancestral), maritime, religious, urban, and other types of heraldry emerged.
Modern military heraldry deals with the creation of heraldic symbols to indicate the affiliation of military personnel to specific military units, as well as the identification of military equipment and weapons, and other attributes of military life, and the issues of their application. It encompasses the entire range of military-service symbols, including uniforms, insignia, banners, flags, pennants, standards, and elements of the award system. In short, modern heraldry studies all aspects of symbolism and emblems. Therefore, when creating new heraldic symbols or modifying the revived symbols of the pre-revolutionary Russian army, it is necessary to use the rules and principles of "friendly" areas of sign-creating activity, such as phaleristics, which deals with the creation of breastplates and badges, or vexillology, which is the theory and practice of designing banners and flags. In this process, it is also necessary to use information from the field of uniformology, which is the science of military clothing.
Today, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are clearly striving to revive the regimental insignia that were lost during the Soviet period on military uniforms, as well as to create symbols of belonging to a specific branch (type) of the Armed Forces for formations and units. The most common form of such symbols is the sleeve chevron and breast insignia. Howe ...
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