Uniforms of the Canadian Forces

The Uniforms of the Canadian Armed Forces are the official dress worn by members of Canada's military while on duty.

Prior to unification in 1968, the uniforms of the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) were similar to their counterparts in the forces of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, save for national identifiers and some regimental accoutrements. With unification in 1968 all branches started wearing the new Canadian Forces CF rifle green uniform. The present distinctive environmental uniforms in different colours for the army, navy and air force were introduced in the late 1980s and are generally similar to their pre-1968 counterparts.

Full formal dress uniforms for ceremonial parades and other special occasions.

Formal evening attire for mess dinners. Mess Dress is not provided at public expense; however, all commissioned officers of the Regular Force are required to own Mess Dress within six months of being commissioned.

Also called a "walking-out" or "duty uniform", it is the military equivalent of the business suit; it is the standard uniform for appearing in public (hence the moniker "walking-out dress"). No 3 Service Dress becomes No 2B Mess Dress by replacing the shirt and tie with a white shirt and bow tie, or to No 1 Ceremonial Dress by the addition of ceremonial web or sword belts, gloves, and other accoutrements.

"Work dress", as it was commonly known, was a more informal uniform, originally for day-to-day wear in garrison or on base, out of the public eye. It usually consisted of work trousers and either a dress shirt or work shirt, with an optional sweater; Army personnel wore a disruptive-pattern jacket. Work dress and the Army garrison dress have been phased out; No. 5 dress (for the army) and No. 3 (for the air force and navy) were adapted to replace it.

Operational dress uniforms are designed for wear in combat conditions. They are intended to be adjusted for comfort and practicality; therefore only naval combat dress has lettered variants. With the elimination of work/garrison dress, operational dress uniforms are now commonly worn whenever service dress is impractical.

While the term Distinctive Environmental Uniform (DEU) refers to all the different environmental uniforms, in practical usage it refers to what is more properly known as "No 3 (Service) Dress". Nos 1, 1A, and 2B are also based on the service dress uniform.

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