| Short Title: | Uniforms Act 1894 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to regulate and restrict the wearing of Naval and Military Uniforms. |
| Year: | 1894 |
| Citation: | 57 & 58 Vict. c. 45 |
| Royal Assent: | 25 August 1894 |
| Commencement: | 1 January 1895[1] |
| Status: | partially_repealed |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/57-58/45/enacted |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
The Uniforms Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. 45) is an Act of Parliament to regulate and restrict the wearing of naval and military uniforms in the United Kingdom.
The Act makes it an offence for military uniforms to be worn without authority:[2]
The act does not include the wearing of honours, medals and decorations.
The restrictions concern all:
As members of the Cadet Forces also wear military uniform (although are generally civilians), it would seem that the Act would also prohibit unauthorised use of Cadet Forces uniforms.
The Act also says that '"Her Majesty’s Military Forces” has the same meaning as in the Armed Forces Act 2006;[but] “Her Majesty's Naval Forces” does not include any Commonwealth force"'.[3]
The Act makes any unauthorised use of said naval or military uniforms publishable by:
In 2012, the Ministry of Defence Police arrested one person, in Devon, for wearing a Royal Navy uniform.[4]
In 2016, the Metropolitan Police made an arrest for one person "wearing military insignia without authority".[5]
In 2017, one man in Derbyshire was fined £500, after pleading guilty to section 2 of the act and wearing a uniform that he was not authorised to wear.[6]
The Crown Prosecution Service reported that between 2012–13 and 2017, that seven people in England and Wales appeared before magistrates, charged with breaching the act.[6]