Figure 1.--This drawing shows Pioneers in their formal uniform. Note that the caps are all red and the only insinia they wear is their sleeve patch. This appars to depict a camp event.

We note most Russian Pioneers wearing a simple uniform, usually just awhite shirt and dark long pants worn with the obligatory red scarfe. Sometimes not even the white shirt was worn, but an ordinary uniform. We see a few boys wearing a more formal uniform which included a cap. A Russian reader decribes the formal uniform that was worn by some boys. He refers to it as the "parade" or "smart" uniform. The children wearing the formal uniform were often participting in a special ceremony.

Normal Uniform

We note most Russian Pioneers wearing a simple uniform, usually just awhite shirt and dark long pants worn with the obligatory red scarfe. Sometimes not even the white shirt was worn, but an ordinary uniform. A HBC reader indicates that little effort was made to strictly control the Pioneer uniform worn by most boys. Normally, as long as a boy wore his red scarf, little was said about his turn out. A Russian reader reports, "As the daily uniform, worn each day, any clothes could serve. The only obligatory item was the red scarf, all the rest of tghe uniform was optional.".

Special Events

Here we have a parade in Lenningrad (St. Petersburg). We were not sure just when it was taken. A reader tells us that it was probably taken in 1972 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Young Pioneers. . The children are dressed in Young Pioneer uniforms with the red scarves. We are not sure what the event was here. Nor do we know why the boys wear green short pants. We though the official Pioneer uniform was blue short or long pants. These green shorts do not seem to have been the childtren's regular Pioneer uniform. More likely it was a special outfit for the occassion. Also notice that the girls' skirts do not match the boys' shorts. The children in this second image have round red badges. I'm not sure what they indicated. Obviously the Young Pioneers did not always parade in their standard uniform. Children participating in major celebrations might be issue special uniforms just for the parade or other special occassion. This might be just the pants and skirts as the children would wear their own white shirts. Here the children may have been issued white turtlemecks. The pants/skirts might be done in a bright color to make an impression in the parade. The children afyer the parade would be expected to turn this uniform back in after the parade. Russian readers have provided us some insights on this photograph.

Special Groups

Some care was taken for a special group of boys. HBU is not sure how they were chosen. They wore a more elaborate formal uniform. They were a kind of honor guard.

Formal/Parade Guarments

We note Pioneers commonly wearing white shits, dark pants, and the red scarfe. A Russian reader writes, "The smart form was especially regulated only. It consisted of a special white shirt with super-imposed pockets and chevrons on the sleeve. With the shirt they wore short pants, either light blue or light green (but never khaki), white belt with metal buckle, shoes, red scarf and red or red and white field-cap (Ispanka). We also notice white knee socks. We also notice some children wearing a red sash. HBU has also noted a brown belt. We are not sure how common the whote belt was. Nor are we sure how common the formal uniform was.

Outfitting

HBU at this time does not understand just how many boys had the formal uniform. Also did the parents have to buy it, or were the uniforms provided by the Pioneer organization.

Usage

The photographs we have seen suggest that these formal uniforms were more worn by a small honor group at speciall occassions than the children at an entire school. We have seen whole grouops at summer camps wearing this uniform, but not whole schools. Our infirmation, however, is still limited. We do not know to what extent it was worn. This needs further investigation. Our Russian reader reports, "... for formations, assemblies and similar events, the formal uniform, including white kneesocks was really necessary."