International Police Uniforms

 
One more here on police uniforms. I’ve noticed when I travel that while there are differences in police uniforms nearly all are dark blue. Let’s take go beyond our borders for this one and take a look.
Starting with our neighbor north, the Canadian Royal Mounted Police uniform is pretty famous with its red tunic jacket, blue riding breeches, riding boots and flat-rimmed cavalry hat. Yet when these folks are actually on active duty, they are dressed much more similar to what we see in the United States since keeping the peace by horse back is no longer the norm.
Unlike the Unites States, which has many municipal and county police departments, many countries have centralized forces and as such, standard uniforms that are worn throughout the nation. In Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police set the tone for other cities. While the dark blue uniform does not differ much from what most forces wear in the US, Japanese police officers often wear white gloves while on duty.
South Korea’s tourist police wear royal blue suits with grey shirts and ties with black berets. Now known as “Gangham Style.” A new division, they do not carry guns and their main purpose is to help foreigners. In case you are wondering, Psy’s costume designer created them.
German police wore a moss green until 2012. Luigi Colani, an Italian designer, designed the current uniform and it is pretty standard dark blue except for the coat of arms of the house of Saxony on the sleeve and cap. The Germans were not the only ones to seek out the help of a world-renowned designer. Valentino was behind the Italian Carabinieri uniforms, a black uniform with red trim.
While the French are famous for their flat hats, these are mainly used for ceremonial purposes today. What does give some French police a unique look is their footwear. Doubling as a mode of transportation, some Parisian police wear roller blades.
While there is variation, it is pretty easy to spot police just about anywhere you travel. Every force has different uniforms for formal settings such as award ceremonies, tactical units like SWAT teams and patrol officers. The differences are often in the details whether it is a coat of arms, patches, trim or buttons. From a design standpoint it would be nice to see more variation but putting safety and law and order first, it is probably a good thing that no matter where you go, you can always find the men, or women, in blue.