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This is the first in a series of 12 plates illustrating the uniforms of the United States Marine Corps worn in 1983.
Green as a Marine Corps uniform dates from the American Revolution and the Continental Marines who wore a uniform coat of moss green. When not wearing their green regimental coat, they wore a green linen hunting shirt as a forerunner to the green utility uniforms of the past 40 years.
In 1833, President Jackson decreed that the Services would revert to the uniform colors worn during the War for Independence. This meant a return to green for the Marines who had been wearing blue since 1798. Green dyes of this period were not sunfast. The green uniform, exposed to rigors of the Seminole War, lasted only until 1840. The blue uniform was again the uniform until 1912 when a forest green uniform was adopted. Except for its standing collar, this uniform was almost identical to the service uniform of today. In 1926, reflecting British World War I officer uniforms, the service green uniform collar...