Military Digest: The Army vs police ‘file battle’ on wearing of berets

In this week’s column, a very interesting ‘file battle’ which went on for several years is being shared.

At the heart of the debate was the issue of whether the police could wear berets (a pattern of cap) like the Army personnel. This ‘tu-tu main-main’ over the beret on files went from 1951 to 1955 with reams of letters being exchanged on the subject.

Research on the subject in the National Archives of India has thrown light on the affair which took place 70 years ago.

It all started in 1951 when the then inspector general of Madhya Pradesh Police asked one of the Ordnance factories to manufacture berets for use by the state force. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) was quick to raise objections over the move. “As these berets are to be of the same pattern as those which are being used by the Armed forces, this Ministry is not in favour of complying with the request,” wrote N S Siva, then deputy secretary, MoD, in 1951.

Siva quoted a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) from December 1947 that the police and allied forces should not use olive green uniforms exclusive to the armed forces.

“It is desirable that berets, which are a distinctive headgear for a portion of our Armed Forces, should not be worn by the police or other allied forces. The tendency on the part of state governments to copy the uniform of the Armed Forces for the police force needs to be discouraged and the only way of doing this effectively would appear to be to suggest to state governments that they might evolve a type of uniform for their police force which will enable the public to distinguish them easily from any other force,” wrote the MoD official.

A deputy secretary at the MHA was not amused by the MoD objection and retorted by saying that others could not be debarred from using the same kind of headgear. “We could, for example, hardly tell a state government that their police must not use trousers, but must always use shorts since trousers are used by the Armed Forces. If the Police use berets, there is no question of their copying the defence services. The defence services also use ‘pugree’, but I do not suppose it is going to be argued that for this reason, the police should give up the use of ‘pugrees’ altogether,” replied U K Ghoshal, the then deputy secretary, MHA, in August 1951.

The MoD seems to have modified its stance in subsequent communications but the matter still did not attain finality. In another letter to the MHA, the MoD said it has carefully considered the proposal and now agrees that state governments may introduce berets for their police forces, provided they do not use the same type and colours that are used by Army troops. “In this connection, it may be stated that berets of the following colours are at present in use in the army: Black, Dark, Blue, Dark Green, Rifle Green, Indian Military Academy Blue, Grass Green, Scarlet, Maroon,” the letter says.

Another letter in 1953 added that certain colours of berets-Grass Green, Rifle Green, and Scarlet, were being withdrawn from the Army and could be used by the police along with the Khaki colour.

However, since some state governments were using the same beret colours as the Army, an objection was once again raised by the MoD. This time, a detailed note was put up in July 1955 on why the police should not copy Army patterns uniform.

“The basic principle is to emphasise the distinction between the uniforms of the Armed Forces and those of the police and similar other forces……the Introduction of berets for the police forces was agreed to on the express understanding that such berets do not in any way resemble those used by the Armed Forces. Items of dress, awarded to the Armed Forces in recognition of acts of valour or by tradition, become a matter of pride and around this pride is built up the “esprit de corps”. Any imitation or approximation of such distinctive items of dress by others would be naturally resented by those units, where such distinctions have been specially recognised,” the MoD note stated.

The archives do not reveal how the debate ended but there were indignant letters from state police IGs on how they had already adopted certain colours of berets and that it would be difficult now to replace them.

A noting from October 1955 by the MHA says, “This long-drawn affair may be brought to a close by informing the state governments that for reasons urged by the Ministry of Defence in their note the berets used by the armed forces need not be issued for use by the police personnel”.