Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102
§771 Unauthorized Wearing Prohibited
Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 45 — THE UNIFORM › § 771
Summary
Anyone not in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force cannot wear their uniforms, uniform parts, or clothing that looks like them unless another law allows it.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §771
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Except as otherwise provided by law, no person except a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force, as the case may be, may wear—
(1)the uniform, or a distinctive part of the uniform, of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force; or
(2)a uniform any part of which is similar to a distinctive part of the uniform of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 77110:1393 (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.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—Pub. L. 116–283 substituted “Marine Corps, or Space Force” for “or Marine Corps” wherever appearing.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 771
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102