Podvorotnichok

General Vladimir Boldyrev wearing a general officer's Flora pattern field uniform with an undercollar seen

A podvorotnichok (Russian: подворотничок, lit. undercollar) is a narrow piece of white fabric used to be^[1] sewn on the inside of the collars of field uniforms in the Russian Armed Forces and in some of the former Soviet republics' militaries. A podvorotnichok was introduced to reduce wear and tear on the collar and to reduce chafing. They were only used with field uniforms. Undercollars were changed daily, typically in the evening before lights out. Undercollars were checked daily during morning inspection. If a soldier's undercollar was not snow-white nor sewn correctly, he could be punished and be made to resew it correctly. Since the introduction of the modern VKPO uniform, old Soviet relics like undercollars and footwraps were phased out. Undercollars have not been mentioned in the Russian Armed Forces uniform list since the signing of Decree 300 by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on 22 June 2015.^[2]

Sources[]

• Soviet Uniforms and Militaria 1917-1991 by Laszlo Bekesi
• Inside the Soviet Army Today. Osprey Elite Military History Series No. 12 by Stephen J Zaloga

See also[]

• Afghanka
• Panamanka

References[]