Country Listing

Chile Table of Contents

Chile

Navy

Naval officers' uniforms are virtually indistinguishable from their British equivalents but, like rank insignia, are also similar to those used by the United States Navy. However, officers' rank insignia, worn on the jacket cuff with the dark-blue winter service uniform and on shoulder boards with all other dress orders, follow United States practice, with a five-pointed star above various combinations of horizontal stripes. Like their army counterparts, enlisted personnel wear rank insignia based on chevrons, worn point downward. Enlisted personnel wear both a stiff white-topped dress cap, somewhat similar to that of the British Royal Navy although with a much thinner ribbon, and a working cap identical to the United States sailor's white hat. Marine enlisted personnel wear dress uniforms reminiscent of those of the United States Marine Corps (USMC), but with a stand-and-fall collar to the tunic. Marine officers wear the standard naval uniform and hold naval ranks. All ranks have a range of blue and white service uniforms, plus a slate-gray working uniform. A United States-style khaki-drab uniform is sometimes worn with the ordinary naval cap; the Marines also have olive-green, khaki-drab, and camouflage combat uniforms, almost indistinguishable from those of the USMC. The standard steel helmet is the United States M-1942 pattern. Naval band members wear the Germanic bird's-nest shoulder ornament on standard blue uniforms.

Data as of March 1994