• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.56 no.9 s.109
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• pp.143-156
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to analyze changes in military uniform design according to the type of war in history and to suggest factors to be considered when designing military uniforms. Military uniform in this study has been limited to uniforms of land active soldiers and not only includes battle dress but also bombproof helmets, combat boots and webbing systems. Western military uniform was investigated starting from World War I focusing on the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and the Soviet Union, and Korean military uniform was analyzed starting from the Korean Day of Independence. Historical research, case studies and in-depth interviews were included in the study. World War I was a trench war. Khaki colors began to be used in battle dress, and steel helmets and gas masks were invented. World War II was a full-stale war. Many kinds of uniform were designed with various environments and roles of soldiers in mind, and camouflage was adopted in military uniform. Modern wars were wars of technique. Strong protectors were invented and diverse camouflages were adopted as rifles became increasingly accurate and biochemical weapons started to be used. Korea referred largely to the uniforms of the United States because it lacked both information on war and the financial power to invest in development of military uniforms. Finally, this study presents 5 factors to be considered when designing military uniforms: protection, camouflage, mobile and utility convenience, compatibility and symbolism. Wars of the future are predicted to be information wars utilizing realtime information collected through computers. Therefore new military uniforms with computers, communication devices and strong protective capacities need to be developed. This study aims to provide a theoretical basis for designing military uniforms of the future.