Colonel Uniform?

The Photo on this page is that of the first Kentucky Colonel Charles Todd.  We assume he is wearing his offical uniform.  The year would have been about 1820.   Headquarters is frequent asked if there is now, or has there ever been an official Colonel “uniform” endorsed by the Honorable Order. Sort of is the answer. The issue was a topic of much discussion in the early days of the Order. Even as late as 1946, members were polled for their opinion on the issue.

The 1931 organizational meeting of what was then called “The Kentucky Colonels” indeed adopted a recommendation for both regular and dress uniforms. If you would like to have your tailor measure you for one, here are the specifications for the “full dress” version taken from the minutes of the meeting:

“… a dark blue jacket much shorter than the Tuxedo coat, silk faced lapels, gold buttons, gold braid epaulets on the shoulders, gold aigulette (braided cord) suspended from the right shoulder, five narrow embroidered gold stripes extending halfway up the sleeve from the cuff and intertwined in a circular pattern, and the aide-de-camp shield with the small letters ‘KY’ worn on the cuff. Trousers are dark blue evening dress trousers with a gold stripe down the outer seams. A stiff bosom white shirt, wing collar, black bow tie, blue military dress cap, blue officers evening cape and black shoes completes this uniform.”

Although the recommendation was approved, not everyone agreed to wear the uniform. One delegate said, “I shall encourage it and contribute to it and do everything to bring it about. Personally, I cannot dress up in feathers and uniform and parade.”

To our knowledge, no one ever did dress up in feathers and parade.  However, we recently confirmed that a handful of the dress uniforms were made and at least one still exists.  To see a photo of it, visit this page in the blog: http://blog.kycolonels.org/2008/07/ambassador-glen/an-honest-to-goodness-colonels-uniform/#comment-29.

Thank you for remembering the Good Works Program in your charitable giving.