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THE ALLIANCE | |
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| Other names |
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| First Appearance | Firefly TV Series episode: "Serenity part 1" |
Background[]
The Alliance was the winner of the Unification War in the TV Series Firefly and is currently the central government of the 'Verse. It originated in the inner planets joining together to bring order to the colonies. While the majority of the population seem to accept (at least passively) its rule nowaday, many on the outer planets regard the Alliance as too authoritarian.
Uniforms[]
Uniforms worn by Alliance troops are all greyish and seem to have been devised with the germans in mind. No effort seem to have been made to define a clear system of distinction between ranks beyond "in command / not in command".
Type #1[]
Worn by characters identified as ensigns in spoken lines or end credit in the episodes Serenity part 1, the train job, ariel, safe, bushwacked & trash or by various unnamed characters in the same ones.
It appears in many episodes without any noticeable differences.
Type #2[]
Worn by characters with various ranks as given in spoken lines or end credit:
- Colonel (the train job)
- Commander (2 different characters in bushwacked and in safe)
- Captain (Serenity part 1)
- Sergeant of Police (trash).
While Colonel and Captain are equivalent ranks (the first in the army, the second in the navy) and commander is the rank below a naval captain, "sergeant" is normally not even an officer. Like other characters wearing uniform #2 however, he is clearly in command of a group of people so "sergeant of police" might be a title, not a rank.
Characters appear wearing many variants: the commander in bushwacked wore a "sam brown belt", a neck disk but no kepi, the colonel in the train job did not wear a neck disk or a badge on his kepi, the Sergeant of Police in Trash had a throat disk but no hat badge and both the Captain (Serenity part 1) and Commander (Safe) had disk and hat badges. In the absence of any more information, the differences can probably be attributed to wardrobe department decisions.
Special Agent[]
Worn by someone referred to as a Special Agent in the episode ariel. His uniform is very close, apart from the badge on his collar, to some civilians clothes seen worn by other characters.
Radio Operator[]
Seen in Bushwacked, his uniform a grey jumpsuit and a flight cap (both with crossed-lighting-bolts badges). The fact that his uniform is completely different from the others on the bridge could mark him as a specialist "on lease" from another service.
Allied Enforcement Lieutenant[]
Seen in the episode The Message, Lieutenant Womack wears a leather trench coat over a pale greyish shirt over a black t-shirts and a sam brown belt with a dark grey pair of pants. On his coat's collar can be seen the sort of badges worn on the beret of the Type #1 uniform.
Lieutenant's Aides[]
Both wear a similar uniform to the lieutenant their trenchcoats are sleeveless allowing one to see what might possibly be a Allied Enforcement Patch on their upper arms. Instead of metallic badge on their collars, they wear on on their berets.
Federal Marshals[]
As seen in "The Train Job", their uniform is composed of a silvery-purplish armours and helmet over a grey jumpsuit that has a badge on the upper-arms. Note that "Federal Marshals" is the name they are refered to in the episode The Train Job but people wearing identical armour were shown in other episodes. This could mean either that the armour is standard for difference services or that the Alliance ship often carry a detachment of them (is a manner similar to the Marines serving on board ships in some countries).
Alliance soldiers appear during Unification War flashbacks who wear a uniform that is nearly identical except for the helmet which is shaped like a german stahlhelm of World War 2 (but silvery purplish) and a shoulder guard on the right.
Clothe Patches[]
A number of clothe patches bearing the word "alliance" in chinese ideograms are seen onscreen which sharre the same basic design of the name between 2 stars and behind which are 3 bars, the middle one being off-centered to the right.
Apart from the 2 shown above, a police patch is seen in Serenity part 1 on persephone and a sheriff one in The Train Job.
Metallic Badges[]
Like the badges, metallic badges follow the same pattern of 3 lines + ideograms between 2 stars. all badges appear to be plain silver.
The "Throat Disk" was worn below the collar by some officers. It might be something similar to the gorget worn by officers in time past and meant to show that the officer in question is on duty.
The "Hat and Collar pin" is smaller then the throat disk and is worn on the Kratchen (the beret with high crown) and kepis as well as the collar of those whose uniform does not seem to include some sort of hat (like the police agent in Ariel and the Lieutenant in The Message). Note that the image is based on some low quality screengrab so the actual object might have been different.