White Guard (Finland) - Dress and Insignia

Dress and Insignia

The first ad hoc symbols were a white armband and a small, three-branched shoot from a spruce branch, placed into the hat. The basic insignia was an embroidered badge with a white "S" topped by three single shoots of spruce branches. The badge and the "S" were embroidered with a gold-colored border. The symbol worn by General C.G.E. Mannerheim had a blue field, but in the provinces, the field was divided (party per sinister), with two or three colors representing each province. The white armband also bore the name of the municipality. Each chapter had its own flag, but generally it was a symmetric variant of the modern State Flag of Finland where the cross was extended with small swastika arms, the "S" symbol in the canton and local symbols instead of the coat of arms.

The rank insignia was rather different from modern Finnish insignia. In principle, the enlisted did not have a rank system, and there was only one officer rank (suojeluskuntaupseeri), marked by a single metal spruce branch worn on the collar. However, task-specific insignia was used instead. Underofficers wore a chevron pointed downwards, and chiefs of local chapters wore 1–4 horizontal bars, the number depending on the size of the chapter. It must be kept in mind that Suojeluskunnat were a civilian organization and many members did not have formal military training. Those members who had served in the military held a separate rank in reserve.

Uniforms were Swedish and German-style and in "field gray" (Feldgrau) color.