Uniform

For other uses, see Uniform (disambiguation)}}}.

A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organisation whilst participating in that organisation's activity.

People performing religious activities have often worn standard costumes since the dawn of recorded history. Other early examples of uniforms include the clothing of the armies of the Roman Empire and other civilizations.

Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organisations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates in prisons. In some countries, some other officials also wear uniforms in some of their duties; such is the case of the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service or the French prefects.

Contents

1 Service and work uniforms
2 Schools
3 Sports
4 Security and armed forces
5 Prison
6 Domestic workers
7 Scouting
8 See also

Service and work uniforms

Workers sometimes wear uniforms or corporate clothing of one nature or another, including but not limited to shop workers, bank and post office workers, airline employees and holiday operators, and bar, restaurant and hotel employees. The use of uniforms by these organisations is often an effort in branding and developing a standard corporate image. The first service uniform registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office was the Playboy Bunny outfit (U.S. patent number 762,884).

Schools

Across the world uniforms are worn in schools. School uniform varies from a standard issue T-shirt to rigorous requirements for many items of formal wear at private schools.

Countries with school uniforms mandated include India, Korea and the UK, as well as many other places. In some countries uniform types vary a lot from school to school, but in the UK most pupils under the age of 16 wear a formal jacket, tie and trousers for boys and similarly smart clothes for girls.

Sports

Most, if not all, professional sports teams also wear uniforms, comprised of the team's distinctive colors, often in different variations for "home" and "away" games. In the United Kingdom, especially in football, the terms "kit" or "strip" (as in 'football kit') are more common.

Security and armed forces

In the case of uniforms worn by military personnel or civilian officials, there are generally several kinds of uniforms:

battledress, khakis;
everyday work uniform, where earned medals are typically replaced by ribbon bars;
dress uniform: worn at ceremonies, official receptions, and other special occasions; medals are typically worn.

Prison

See the article Prison Uniform.

Domestic workers

Domestic workers are often required by their employers to wear a uniform.

Scouting

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The Scout uniform is a specific characteristic of the Scouting movement, in the words of Lord Baden-Powell at the 1938 World Jamboree, "it covers the differences of country and race and make all feel that they are members one with another of one World Brotherhood". The original uniform, which has created a familiar image in the public eye, consisted of a khaki button-up shirt, shorts and a broad-brimmed "Smokey Bear" hat. Baden-Powell himself wore shorts as being dressed like the youth contributed to reducing distances between the adult and the young person. Nowadays, uniforms are frequently blue, orange, red or green, and shorts are replaced by long pants in areas where the culture calls for modesty, and in winter weather.