French cuff ranks

[pyrrhicvictory]

Does anybody know anything about how the cuff ranks used by the french work and what colour they are?  I have some NCOs and an officer that I would like to paint ranks onto, but are unsure of what exactly to paint.  If it is any help they are wearing horizon blue uniforms.

[Plynkes]

Here you go:

Early War Uniform
Privates and NCOs had a large thick diagonal stripe above the cuff area (both arms), on both the greatcoat and tunic, as can be seen in this picture:


(The insignia on his upper arm is a marksman's badge)

Private: Nothing
Private 1st Class: One red stripe
Corporal: Two red stripes
Sergeant: One yellow stripe
Sergeant-Major: Two yellow stripes

(Sergeant and above have their regimental number on the collar in gold rather than black, too.)



Officers have yellow horizontal stripes that go all the way around the arm of the tunic, intersecting the red strip with the buttons on it (can't find a pic right now, but I'll have another look later).
Second Lieutenant: One stripe
First Lieutenant: Two stripes
Captain: Three stripes
Major: Four stripes
Lt. Colonel: Five stripes (two of which are blue, the second and fourth)
Colonel: Five yellow stripes

These are for infantry, other service branches did it differently, but I have the info if anyone wants it.







Horizon Blue Uniform
The stripes are similar diagonal ones to the earlier uniform (still on both arms), but much, much smaller:


The chevrons on his upper arm are nothing to do with rank, they show service in the front lines. First chevron is one year, ones after that represent six months in the trenches, so this fellow has been at it for a year and a half. They were in the same colour as the rank stripes, so sergeant and above would have them in yellow.

Private: Nothing
Private 1st Class: One dark blue stripe
Corporal: Two dark blue stripes
Sergeant: One yellow stripe
Sergeant-Major: Two yellow stripes


Officers had small stripes in a similar style, but horizontal rather than diagonal:


(Ignore his hat, unless you're doing Salonika.)

They used the same scheme as the early war version described above:
Second Lieutenant: One stripe
First Lieutenant: Two stripes
Captain: Three stripes
Major: Four stripes
Lt. Colonel: Five stripes (two of which are blue, the second and fourth)
Colonel: Five yellow stripes

Again, this is for regular infantry. There could be minor differences for other branches, just ask if you want to know about a particular one, I might have the info.

[pyrrhicvictory]

Thanks Plynkes, your help is much appreciated. 
When I have completed the NCOs I will post some photos on the forum; I hope you will like them!

Cheers.

[Patrice]

Lt. Colonel: Five stripes (two of which are blue, the second and fourth)

You mean: "two of which are white, the second and the fourth".

[Plynkes]

Yes, my mistake. Thanks, Patrice. 

[Patrice]

AAaargh and we should not forget the "adjudant" which is the highest NCO rank and an important role in a company (a "sergent-major" had administrative duties and no fighting role).
Adjudant has one stripe, same shape of stripe than officers but in the different colour (in that case it would be white) and a very thin red line in the middle. I think they already had this stripe in 1914 (verification needed).

It is also useful to know that in the French army, corporals are not considered "sous-officiers" (NCOs) they are "hommes du rang" (same category as privates and PFC). This is why their stripes are red (or another woollen colour according to army branch) and no white or yellow as sergeants and officers.

[Plynkes]

Yes, sorry, I forgot the Adjudant and Adjudant-Chef. Oops!  



I have gathered some pictures together that might be helpful.

1914:




Note that by the winter of 1914, the rank stripes had already been reduced in size, like so:

So the big ones shown in the earlier post are suitable for the summer and autumn of the year.



1915+




The adjudant looks pretty similar to the Second Lieutenant (just a slightly warmer shade of yellow), but the picture is too small to tell the subtle differences. It looks like there may be some red stitching interweaved in the stripe (perhaps the same colour scheme as the 1914 stripe?), but it is very hard to tell, even under magnification. I couldn't find a photo of a real sleeve, unfortunately. However on a 28mm figure, such things can't be seen either, so I guess it doesn't matter much.  

[aircav]

They're spot on Mr Plynkes, very usefull 

The adjudant looks pretty similar to the Second Lieutenant (just a slightly warmer shade of yellow), but the picture is too small to tell the subtle differences. It looks like there may be some red stitching interweaved in the stripe (perhaps the same colour scheme as the 1914 stripe?), but it is very hard to tell, even under magnification. I couldn't find a photo of a real sleeve, unfortunately. However on a 28mm figure, such things can't be seen either, so I guess it doesn't matter much.  

It would probably be best to paint it a pale orange 

[Patrice]

Magnificent, Plynkes!

Yes. The "adjudant-chef" stripe is exactly the same colour than officers stripes of the same branch, but with a thin red line in the middle.

The "adjudant" stripe is the other metal colour (= white if officers wear yellow stripes; yellow if officers wear white stripes) with a thin red line in the middle.

Type "galons adjudant" on Google images and you'll see lots of them - more modern but same principle.

The choice between white or yellow is a remembering of the 18th century when troops wore silver lace and pewter/silver buttons, or golden lace and brass/golden buttons.

A short history of the ranks (in French) is on the French Army official website (but it also mentions more modern ranks).
http://www.defense.gouv.fr/terre/bloc-les-essentiels/les-grades/

[Plynkes]

Ah right. Merci beaucoup, Patrice.

[pyrrhicvictory]

I have just had an argument with a rather dysfunctional camera, and it has finally agreed to work.  I will post some photos of the NCOs tonight if anybody is interested.  I meant to do this ages ago, but cameras can be stubborn sometimes.

[Plynkes]

I will post some photos of the NCOs tonight if anybody is interested. 

I am. Please do.

[pyrrhicvictory]

I meant to take some photos of these guys weeks ago, but my camera decided to have 'lens error'.  This seems to be the camera equivalent of pulling a sickie!  After many evenings of 'percussive maintenance' (i.e. hitting it in frustration) it finally seems to be working.  I myself am only relatively new to painting miniatures, so my work is not of the same standard as some of the other things on this forum, but I'll put it here just in case anybody is interested.  The photos aren't of the best quality, this is thanks to my dodgy camera... but I hope it is still clear enough to see.  These French infantry are part of a rather large terrain building/army painting project to create both French and German forces for 1916-'18 as well as a trench board that will one day grow to an epic/ridiculous size.