Laws
Except as otherwise provided by law, no person except a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, as the case may be, may wear—
(1) the uniform, or a distinctive part of the uniform, of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps; or
(2) a uniform any part of which is similar to a distinctive part of the uniform of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps.
(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 34.)
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large)
771 10:1393 (1st par., less provisos). June 3, 1916, ch. 134, §125 (1st par., less provisos), 39 Stat. 216.
The words “Except as otherwise provided by law” are inserted to give effect to exceptions in other revised sections of this title and to provisions of other laws giving such organizations as the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Public Health Service permission to wear military uniforms under certain conditions.
§771a. Disposition on discharge
(a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), when an enlisted member of an armed force is discharged, the exterior articles of uniform in his possession that were issued to him, other than those that he may wear from the place of discharge to his home under section 772(d) of this title, shall be retained for military use.
(b) When an enlisted member of an armed force is discharged for bad conduct, undesirability, unsuitability, inaptitude, or otherwise than honorably—
(1) the exterior articles of uniform in his possession shall be retained for military use;
(2) under such regulations as the Secretary concerned prescribes, a suit of civilian clothing and an overcoat when necessary, both to cost not more than $30, may be issued to him; and
(3) if he would be otherwise without funds to meet his immediate needs, he may be paid an amount, fixed by the Secretary concerned, of not more than $25.
(c) When an enlisted member of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard who has been called into Federal service is released from that service, the exterior articles of uniform in his possession shall be accounted for as property issued to the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard, as the case may be, of the State or territory, Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia of whose Army National Guard or Air National Guard he is a member, as prescribed in section 708 of title 32.
(Added Pub. L. 90–235, §8(1)(A), Jan. 2, 1968, 81 Stat. 763; amended Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title XII, §1234(a)(1), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 2059.)
Amendments
1988—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 100–456 struck out “the Canal Zone,” after “Puerto
§772. When wearing by persons not on active duty authorized
(a) A member of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard may wear the uniform prescribed for the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard, as the case may be.
(b) A member of the Naval Militia may wear the uniform prescribed for the Naval Militia.
(c) A retired officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps may bear the title and wear the uniform of his retired grade.
(d) A person who is discharged honorably or under honorable conditions from the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps may wear his uniform while going from the place of discharge to his home, within three months after his discharge.
(e) A person not on active duty who served honorably in time of war in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps may bear the title, and, when authorized by regulations prescribed by the President, wear the uniform, of the highest grade held by him during that war.
(f) While portraying a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, an actor in a theatrical or motion-picture production may wear the uniform of that armed force if the portrayal does not tend to discredit that armed force.
(g) An officer or resident of a veterans’ home administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs may wear such uniform as the Secretary of the military department concerned may prescribe.
(h) While attending a course of military instruction conducted by the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, a civilian may wear the uniform prescribed by that armed force if the wear of such uniform is specifically authorized under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the military department concerned.
(i) Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Air Force may prescribe, a citizen of a foreign country who graduates from an Air Force school may wear the appropriate aviation badges of the Air Force.
(j) A person in any of the following categories may wear the uniform prescribed for that category:
(1) Members of the Boy Scouts of America.
(2) Members of any other organization designated by the Secretary of a military department.
(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 35; Pub. L. 99–145, title XIII, §1301(a)(1), Nov. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 735; Pub. L. 101–189, div. A, title XVI, §1621(a)(1), Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1602; Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title V, §551(b), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2525.)
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