united-states
Is it illegal to wear military surplus clothing?
<p>I have heard that wearing parts of a military uniform in the US is technically illegal, even though the law is rarely enforced.</p>

<p>I purchased a military surplus jacket from a thrift store. The front has labels reading "US Army" and a last name across the chest. The shoulders have a unit patch and rank insignia (horizontal black bar for either lieutenant or warrant officer) on the epaulets, but no medals. The camo pattern seems to be ERDL, so it is a jacket that's not been in use for decades.</p>

<p>Could there be any legal repercussions for wearing this in the US (I am not affiliated with the military), without any other military clothing (eg. with civilian pants)? Is it necessary to remove the nametag and other insignia?</p>

<p>Note that the original <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Valor_Act_of_2005" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Stolen Valor Act of 2005</a>, which made it an offense to falsely claim to have been awarded any US military medal or decoration, or to wear such without authorization, was ruled unconstitutional in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Alvarez" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>United States v. Alvarez</em>, 567 U.S. 709 (2012)</a>. The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 makes this an offense only if done for profit.</p>

<p>As described in <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/41157/41158#41158">this Law.se Q&amp;A</a>, <em>United States vs Hamilton</em> (2012) limited the law against wearing military uniform without authorization to cases where it is done <strong>with intent to deceive</strong> (at least in the Fourth Circuit, but I suspect that the same rule would be applied throughout the country).</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Could there be any legal repercussions for wearing this in the US (I
  am not affiliated with the military), without any other military
  clothing (eg. with civilian pants)? Is it necessary to remove the
  nametag and other insignia?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Yes,</strong> according to the law wearing a US military uniform is prohibited unless you have explicit permission (usually by being in the military):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Except as otherwise provided by law, no person except a member of the
  Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, as the case may be, may wear—</p>
  
  <p>(1) the uniform, or a distinctive part of the uniform, of the Army,
  Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps; or</p>
  
  <p>(2) a uniform any part of which
  is similar to a distinctive part of the uniform of the Army, Navy, Air
  Force, or Marine Corps.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/771" rel="nofollow noreferrer">10 U.S. Code § 771. Unauthorized wearing prohibited</a></p>

<p>The penalty is up to six months imprisonment:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Whoever, in any place within the jurisdiction of the United States or
  in the Canal Zone, without authority, wears the uniform or a
  distinctive part thereof or anything similar to a distinctive part of
  the uniform of any of the armed forces of the United States, Public
  Health Service or any auxiliary of such, shall be fined under this
  title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/702" rel="nofollow noreferrer">18 U.S. Code § 702. Uniform of armed forces and Public Health Service</a> </p>

<p>Exceptions to this rule are listed in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/772" rel="nofollow noreferrer">§ 772. When wearing by persons not on active duty authorized</a>. These are mostly the exceptions you would except (retired military personnel, actors in a performance, civilians working with the military or attending a military school...).</p>

<p>In addition to that, there is legislation that specifically outlaws claiming to have earned medals or awards - for example, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Valor_Act_of_2013" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Stolen Valor Act of 2013</a>, which makes it a crime to fraudulently claim having received an award. So adding a medal to your uniform could cause additional problems, at least if the prosecution thinks you did it to defraud others by claiming to have received the medal rightfully.</p>

<p>Some things that <em>may</em> save you:</p>

<ul>
<li>In practice, it is, as usual, at the discretion of the district attorney whether a violation will actually be prosecuted.</li>
<li>Courts have ruled that the exception for actors must be interpreted generously, so for example Halloween costumes may be covered under that exception.</li>
<li>The law specifially forbids wearing "the uniform, or a distinctive part of the uniform". So as long as you only wear a part of the uniform (e.g. only the jacket), you are safe, unless the part is considered to be "<strong>distinctive</strong>". There are specific regulations on that (no source handy right now), but basically only the decorative or rank elements are "distinctive" (badges, tabs, buttons, medals, ribbons, headgear etc.). The purely "functional" items (such as jackets, backpacks, boots etc.) are probably safe (but no guarantees from me, obviously!).</li>
</ul>

<p>That said, there <em>have</em> been successful prosecutions for violating §771, especially if the court judged it was done specifically to denigrate the US armed forces.</p>

<hr>

<p>Finally, note that there are additional regulations around uniforms in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Code_of_Military_Justice" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Uniform Code of Military Justice</a> (which applies to members of the armed forces), so as an active soldier, you may face additional consequences.</p>
