How many times have the epaulettes of the army general changed?

The shots of the generals of the Russian army, like the Soviet one, preserved the continuity of pre-revolutionary Russian insignia. The main element that distinguishes them are zigzags. During the Civil War, there were times when the colonels were recognized directly on the front lines about the appropriation of the high rank, and before the attack they drew broken lines straight on old shoulder straps with chalk.

In the tsarist army, there were four higher command ranks. He was a general-field marshal (epaulettes with zigzags and crossed staffs), a general from infantry, cavalry and other combat arms, also called a "full general" (shoulder straps with zigzags without stars), lieutenant general (three stars above zigzags) and general- Major (two stars).

In February 1917, revolutionary soldiers and sailors, instigated by agitators, tore off their former bosses' hated symbols of "old power" from their shoulders.

After a long break in 1943, the traditional Soviet insignia were reintroduced in the Soviet Army. The rank of Major-General, as before 1917, was the first and the youngest among the generals. Then, according to the increasing number of stars, Lieutenant-General and Colonel-General walked.

The insignia of the top commanders remained almost unchanged. The exception is only the epaulettes of the army general, whose appearance has changed several times already. The rank is really intermediate, and the official duties are so close to the marshals that the line between these two military ranks sometimes became indistinguishable.

The riots of the army general with four stars were a title, after which he was already close to the marshal. During the Great Patriotic War, commanders in this rank, as a rule, served as deputy commander of the front.

In 1974, the insignia of the top command of the Soviet Army underwent some changes. The reasons for this were - the status and responsibilities of the marshal and the army general were virtually identical. In addition, unlike the war years, in those years, later named "stagnant", the next rank was not attributed to the special abilities and personal qualities shown in the course of command and control, but by the length of service, or even just by the jubilee. As if hinting at the prospect of career growth for the new epaulettes of the army general, one star "fell", but how! Marshal's! Next to it is a motorized rifle emblem. Such insignia lasted in the armed forces of the USSR, and then the Russian Federation for twenty years.

In 1993, the rank of marshal in the Russian armed forces was abolished, and in 1997 the army general's shoulder straps once again became four-star, as 1943.

In 2013, the pendulum swung again towards the marshal's stars. It is possible that one big star is more beautiful than four smaller ones. It is not ruled out that in this way they try to mislead the intelligence of countries-likely adversaries. It can also be assumed that aesthetic representations play a significant role in the selection of the style of the insignia. The fact remains - today the epaulettes of the army general again resemble the marshals. Will they change in the future, is not very clear.