Definition of the Military uniform

A military uniform is the standardised dress worn by members of the armed forces and paramilitaries of various nations. Military dress and military styles have gone through great changes over the centuries from colourful and elaborate to extremely utilitarian. Military uniforms in the form of standardised and distinctive dress, intended for identification and display, are typically a sign of organised military forces equipped by a central authority.

The utilitarian necessities of war and economic frugality are now the dominant factors in uniform design. Most military forces, however, have developed several different uniform types, including combat dress, working dress, service or ordinary duty uniforms and (to a very limited extent) ceremonial full dress. The practice of wearing a form of full dress off duty ("walking out dress") has largely died out as the modern soldier prefers the casual clothing of his civilian peers. Soldiers of the French Armed Forces do however still wear their kepis and a modified form of parade dress off duty, which can be seen every 14 July, during the Bastille Day Military Parade, in Paris. 

All of the above armies wear some form of camouflage uniforms for training and active service. These generally resemble each other and armies in the field are no longer differentiated by the distinctive cut or colour of their clothing. Camouflage clothing, being cheap, comfortable and practical, has increasingly become the usual dress for daily wear in most armies, superseding the various "service" uniforms which were often the field dress of previous wars. In poorer parts of the third world, especially Africa, the camouflage clothing worn comes from a variety of sources and is of many different patterns, so that an army's dress is definitely military, but to a large extent not uniform.

The military of many countries have adopted the economical expedient of smartening up combat uniforms for parade by adding medals, neck scarves and coloured berets to the terrain coloured camouflage uniforms intended for combat. As an interesting example of the combining of old and new features of uniform the French Spahis and the Spanish Regulares still wear the flowing cloaks, fezzes, turbans and sashes of the North African colonial regiments from which they are descended with modern khaki or camouflage clothing, on appropriate occasions.