The ''Paroli'' (pl. ''Parolis''; en:

gorget A gorget ( ; ) was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the English medieval clothing, medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon (headgear), chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather Collar (c ...

patch, collar tab, or patch) was initially the designation for the coloured

gorget patches Gorget patches (collar tabs, collar patches) are an insignia in the form of paired patches of cloth or metal on the collar of a uniform (gorget), used in the military and civil service in some countries. Collar tabs sign the military rank (group ...

of the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

. It is applied on the

of a uniform coat or jacket and the battle-dress blouse. The ''Parolis'' indicated the egalisation colour and served as discrimination criteria of the 102 infantry regiments of the Austro-Hungarian Army, as well as

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

regiment (mounted infantry) and the regiment of the

uhlan Uhlan (; ; ; ; ) is a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. The uhlans started as Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, Lithuanian irregular cavalry, that were later also adopted by other countries during the 18th century, including Polis ...

s (light cavalry). In other German-speaking armed forces, the designation was called ''Kragenpatte, Kragenspiegel, or Arabesque''.

Paroli in the Austro-Hungarian Army

In the Austro-Hungarian Army, two ''Parolis'' (on the left and right side) were applied to the front part of the uniform

on the coat, ''

Waffenrock (also ; ) was originally a medieval German term for an outer garment, worn by knights over their armor. Later, became the generic term for any military uniform, including dress and parade uniforms, and also referred to epaulets or shoulder b ...

'' (en: service uniform, dress uniform and/or battle-dress blouse), as indicated below. Rank stars and special badges could be attached as appropriate and indicated below. * On uniform coat – a curved tongue with the upward-directed point, the lower end of the point broadens with a bottom in the center. *On battle-dress blouse with stand-up collar – ''broad Parolis'' were covering approximately 1/5th of the

length. Rank stars, color stripes of cloth, piping, and special badges were attached to the front area. *After 1916, ''broad Parolis'' were replaced by ''smaller ones'', with vertical color stripes of cloth on the end. The rank stars of the rank groups

gemeine ''Gemeiner'' (pl. ''Gemeine'', en: private or soldierLangenscheidt's Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the English and German language: „Der Große Muret-Sander“, Part I German-English First Volume A–K, 9th edition 2002, p. 661 – «de: Gemeiner ...

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

s, and ''

Unteroffizier () is a junior non-commissioned officer rank used by the . It is also the collective name for all non-commissioned officers in Austria and Germany. It was formerly a rank in the Imperial Russian Army. Austria , also , is the collective name to ...

e'' (NCOs) were made from white

celluloid Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common present-day ...

. However, since the year 1913 ''Paroli'' rank stars to

Stabsfeldwebel ''Stabsfeldwebel '' (StFw or SF; ) is the second highest Non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in German Army and German Air Force. It is grouped as OR-8 in NATO, equivalent to a First Sergeant in the United States Army, and to Warrant Office ...

and ''

Kadett Kadett corresponds to cadet in English and is a term used in Sweden to denote officer candidates studying in order to become an officer. There are basically two ways to become officer as described below. Specialist Officers (SO) Direct recruitmen ...

'' were made from white silk. ''

Offiziersstellvertreter Offiziersstellvertreter, short OStv (English language, en: ''Officer deputy''), is a rank of the higher non-commissioned officers rank group (also staff NCO group) in the Austrian Bundesheer and Imperial German Army (German Empire), German Army. ...

'' (officer deputy) rank stars were made from brass, and the rank stars designated for ''

Fähnrich Fähnrich () is an officer candidate rank in the Austrian Bundesheer and German Bundeswehr. The word comes from an older German military title, (flag bearer), and first became a distinct military rank in Germany on 1 January 1899. Howeve ...

'' and officers were metallic gold-plated or silver-plated. In cases of self-procurement, metal embroidered rank stars were allowed.

Examples

The galleries below show examples of ''Parolis:'' *on the pike-grey battle-dress blouse or coat, as per order of 1908 or 1916 Paroli Mantel.png, ''Paroli on coat'' with curved tongue in sulphur-yellow Korporal M16 hg.png, ''Paroli broad version'' in apple-green, with celluloid stars, 1908 Gefreiter M16.png, ''Paroli small version'' with orange-yellow stripe of cloth, 1916 Feldwebel M16.png,

Feldwebel '' '' (Fw or F, ) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, and is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, occupied Serbia ...

, Paroli in scarlet-red, 1916 Offzstellv M16 gg.png, ''Offiziersstellvertreter'', Paroli in grass-green, with brass star, 1916 Olt M16 gg.png, ''

Oberleutnant (English: First Lieutenant) is a senior lieutenant Officer (armed forces), officer rank in the German (language), German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. In Austria, ''Oberle ...

'', Paroli in black, with gold-plated stars, 1916 Oberst M16 gg.png, ''

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, a ...

'', Paroli in dark-red, 1916 Kuk Feldmarschall 1918.png, ''

Feldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (; from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several List of states in the Holy Roman Empire, German states and the Holy ...

'', Paroli in crab-red, 1916 * Special ''Parolis'' on the pike-grey battle-dress blouse, as per the order of 1916 HptmGenstb M16.png, ''

Hauptmann () is an officer rank in the armies of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is usually translated as ''captain''. Background While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has, and originally had, the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literall ...

in the General staff '' (Hauptmann im Generalstabes) HptmArtstab M16.png, ''Hauptmann in the Artillery staff'' (... im Artilleriestab, with egalisation colour on smaller stripe of cloth and piping) HptmGeniest M16.png, ''Hauptmann in the Engineer staff'' (... im Geniestab)

Paroli in Austria today

The system of rank insignia on military uniforms remains almost unchanged since the Austro-Hungarian Empire was established. Slight changes in wording has occurred, such as changing "paroli with distinction star" to "distinction insignia". However, today only the curved tongue on the coat with the upwards directed point is designated as ''Paroli''. The gallery below shows some examples of the today's

Austrian Bundesheer The Austrian Armed Forces () are the combined military forces of Austria. The military consists of 16,000 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 1.0% of national GDP (including pensions) or €3.317 billion (20 ...

Paroli in Hungary today

The system of rank insignia on military uniforms remains almost unchanged since the Austro-Hungarian Empire was established except the Soviet occupation. In 1990 when Hungary became a sovereign country again, the HDF took on heritage rank insignia of the Royal Hungarian Army with slight changes. Today these gorget patches are still called ''Paroli''. The gallery below shows an example of the today's

Hungarian Defence Forces The Hungarian Defence Forces (, ) is the national defence force of Hungary. Since 2007, the Hungarian Armed Forces has been under a unified command structure. The Ministry of Defence maintains political and civil control over the army. A subordi ...

Branch colours

Sources

* ''Adjustierungsvorschrift für die k. u. k. gemeinsame Armee, die k.k. Landwehr, die k.u. Landwehr, die verbundenen Einrichtungen und das Corps der Militär-Beamten.'' (Theil III) Herausgegeben mit Genehmigung des k.u.k. Kriegsministeriums durch die k.u.k. Hofdruckerei von Erich Christl, Bozen 1912. * Johann C. Allmayer-Beck, Erich Lessing: ''Die K.u.k. Armee. 1848–1918''. Verlag Bertelsmann, München 1974, . * Stefan Rest: ''Des Kaisers Rock im ersten Weltkrieg''. Verlag Militaria, Wien 2002, * ''Das k.u.k. Heer im Jahre 1895'' Schriften des Heeresgeschichtlichen Museums in Wien - Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz 1997

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paroli uniform Austro-Hungarian Army Military insignia Military of Austria-Hungary Military ranks of Austria