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History of the Eight Pointed Cover
- Thread starter steveg
- Start date
gaijin6423
Ask me about ninjas!
You know, I could probably bust out some BS on this (it was my major, after all), but that's all it would be. After 10yrs, I don't think I've ever even heard a BS answer for this one. There are lots of answers to questions like this that Marines use (Why do NCOs and Officers wear the bloodstripe; Why don't Officers have Cuba on their EGA; etc, etc, etc) that are basically answers one would give to a PFC who asks too many damn questions. Hey, it shuts them up, right?
Personally, though, I'd venture to say because it looks better than that crap the Army wears. Execept for those badass cavalry hats some of the helo pilots wear, because they're just plain cool.
Personally, though, I'd venture to say because it looks better than that crap the Army wears. Execept for those badass cavalry hats some of the helo pilots wear, because they're just plain cool.
Robert Duvall and the surfing scene from Apocalypse Now ... plain badass
dvl_dog_2531_90
Registered User
I don't think there is any real history per se, at least not that I know of or am able to find, other than them having been part of the uniform since 1944.
During the early years of WWII the Marines used a cover that was identical to that of the Army. In 1944 a design similar to the current pattern was introduced.
During the early years of WWII the Marines used a cover that was identical to that of the Army. In 1944 a design similar to the current pattern was introduced.
Crowbar: I think the term 8-point cover came about when they started issuing boonies in bootcamp. My guess.
As to why it has 8 points like that, that seems to me to be the equivalent of asking why the service alphas are green or why coroframs are shiny.
Somewhere, sometime, someone decided that they looked sharp and incorporated them into the uniform...
As to why it has 8 points like that, that seems to me to be the equivalent of asking why the service alphas are green or why coroframs are shiny.
Somewhere, sometime, someone decided that they looked sharp and incorporated them into the uniform...
phrogpilot73
Well-Known Member
Interesting bit of history... All the "stories" associated with Marine Corps uniforms are usually just that, stories. I took a 400 level history course in college "History of the Marine Corps". It was there that I learned that ALOT of things on our uniforms were simply "stylistic" additions in the late 18th, and early 19th centuries. Some very creative Marine came up with stories to back them up, and those stories stuck. Some of the examples given (it was a guest instructor from the Marine Corps musem in Quantico) were the blood stripe and quatrafoil... So, who really knows.
gaijin6423
Ask me about ninjas!
I'd heard from several people that the addition of the bloodstripe was basically a mistake. The army started ordering blue trousers with red stripes on them because it was fashionable at the time, and the Marine Corps got a shipment by mistake. It wasn't enough to give everyone pants with stripes, so they came up with the whole Officers and NCOs thing, blaming it on the Mexican-American War. Any truth to that, o' wise sage of knowledge?
Kind of off topic, but I thought this was really cool. An AF pilot told me that the reason the coat on the Army dress uniform is a darker blue than the pants is because in the cavalry days, they would roll their coats up and put em in their saddle bags when it got hot out. After riding around in the sun for so long, when they put their coats on the coats stayed dark blue and the pants were light. They finally decided to issue them this way. I thought this (if true) was cool because it was something that reflected the history of the Army, and not just something artificially made up.
This is true...however, it doesn't mean that uniform items can't mean what we want them to mean.
For example, the red stripe WAS issued prior to the Mexican-American War, however, that doesn't mean that the blood stripe of today can't represent the NCO's and Officers of that War.
What is the true lineage of the quatrofoil? I always thought that one was legitimate.
edit: Gaijin, that couldn't be correct because (as stated in my post), the red stripe came about well before the Mexican-American War.
gaijin6423
Ask me about ninjas!
I wouldn't be surprised if the story I'd heard wasn't true. As for the quatrefoil, I'd thought it was legit, too. Too legit, in fact, to quit. Seriously, though, is the tale behind it bogus? Anyone know?
phrogpilot73
Well-Known Member
The two examples the instructor used were the quatrefoil and the blood stripe. He said that both were stylistic additions to the uniform in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. As we started interacting with some of the older militaries (from Europe) stories were made up to back up why they were on our uniforms...
Depends on which "cavalry days" you are talking about...most Americans focus on the 1880s and 90s as being the prime cavalry days for the Army. The color of the uniforms however was standard during the civil war (coat darker than trousers) but why that is I am not sure...or even when it changed...
The quatrefoil was present on most US military officer covers at least since the civil war and I have seen accounts of it before that. All the period (early 1800s) documents I have seen refer to it in the same light as the "story" which the Marine Corps currently uses for its explanation. Therefore its my understanding that the quatrefoil story is true...and therefore not just a story.