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There are certain standards the Commissars keep, but they do have a fair degree of latitude.

a) crimson sash. It's often described as their mark of office, and every commissar has a crimson element to their uniform, whether it be a belt, sash or some other distinctive piece of their outfit.

b) black; the predominant colour of a Commissar's uniform is black; their pants, jacket, stormcoat (another common feature) is black, but various additions can be in keeping with their adopted regiment, depends on the nature of the commissar whether or not they adopt the style of their regiment.

c) peaked cap. Commissars always have a large peaked cap, usually black with an imperial skull or laurel, and some red incorporated, often a band above the brim.

Everything else is up to you. Pith helmets are very distinctive for a Praetorian army, but Commissars wouldn't subscribe to them; their cap is part of who they are, their position and purpose, a symbol the troops can see and keep track of in the tumult of violence, even where a helmet would be more practical.

Part of this is because Commissars almost never come from the same world as the regiment they're supervising, and only adopt equipment as the battlefield demands (Krieg commissars with gasmasks for hostile battlefields, for instance).

For Praetorians, an enamoured commissar might take to a Praetorian coloured overcoat; keep his uniform black, but paint his overcoat in the colour of your regiment, something like that.

It's my understanding that Commissars are attached to a regiment, but not a part of it. Indeed, they wear a special uniform specifically to stand apart from the troops and have their status be recognised by all, so "fitting in" would not be on their agenda, even if they would somehow get their hands on a spare uniform (which would really only be possible at the time the regiment is raised, as IG forces do not receive further supplies or reinforcements once sent off-world on campaign).

That being said, the background of 40k is not always consistent between the different sources, merely a suggestion to inspire you, and certainly a lot of novel authors don't care too much about those details either. You are charged with the difficult question of whether you want to make your Commissar look like the Commissar from GW's books, or something else - and the only thing that matters is that you like how it all turns out.

Regardless of what you'll choose, good luck, and props for picking Praetorians!

If you look at what the British Army wore, they used a dark blue uniform as well as the more well known red one. The dark blue uniform was dark enough to look black.
My advice to keep with the British look of the Praetorians is to give the Commissar a pith helmet like the rest of the troops but have his uniform including helmet black. If you want to go with a peaked cap then don't use the existing commissar one as that has a very Russian/German look to it.
You might like to consider the dress uniform of the Queen's Royal Lancers, they even have a skull and cross bones for a cap badge.




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Oh, and chainmail on their shoulders.

Cape or coat, they wore both. Praetorians are based on British Army in the later part of the 19th century so you could look at the uniforms they wore during the Zulu wars for inspiration.
There's a couple of old movies you could look at too.

Zulu (1964)
Zulu Dawn (1979)

They're about the battles of Rourke's Drift and Isandlwana.
The Zulu overran the British at Isandlwana and slaughtered them, 1300 or so dead.
Part of the Zulu army then attacked Rourke's Drift, a mission station held by less than 150 men. They held and survived.

It's more likely he'd keep to the standard Commissar uniform than change.

 purplefood wrote:
It's more likely he'd keep to the standard Commissar uniform than change.

There's no consistent commissar uniform though. I can also see more established IG planets providing their own recruits to the Schola Progenium in order to have their own commissars in a similar way astartes send out marines to the mechanicum to become tech marines.
If you think about modern police uniforms, they follow a general look but there are differences in hat shape and size, shirt style etc depending on local preferences. Given the size of the Imperium it is likely that individual commissars would have uniforms made locally and that they would choose to have something similar to local styles to fit in better. They might be the guy that executes people for failing their duties, but for morale purposes they wouldn't want to be a complete outsider.

If you want to take your own spin on the uniform without changing it too much, you could always just add something small. I think the Gaunt model from the old GW Ghosts model range had one of their camocloaks in addition to his standard Commissar attire. Then again, he's a Colonel too, so that might not be the best example.

I think if you keep the overall 'look' of the uniform (the cap, crimson badge of office, and a version of a greatcoat) it won't be too hard to make it your own.

cadbren wrote:There's no consistent commissar uniform though.

There is in GW's fluff.

"To denote their rank, they wear distinctive black dress uniforms, long overcoats and peaked caps proudly displaying Imperium insignia."
- 5E C:IG p.32

Here is the official miniature for a Commissar attached to the green-and-beige-coloured Steel Legion. Note how "different" he is from this Commissar, or this one, or this one, ...

That's right. He got a gas mask.

There are subtle variances that would be okay, but the major identifying aspects are always the same - because Commissars have a very special identity to preserve. Imagine the issues that would arise from a Commissar not being recognised as one just because the regiment was merged with one from another world, or because they operate as part of an Army Group consisting of multiple different regiments!

"What are you doing there, soldier! Get back to your post!"
"Make me."
"What in the Emperor's name ... do you not see I'm a Commissar?!"
"Haha, sure! If you were a Commissar, you'd have a yellow jacket with red frills, and a blue helmet with a duck on it like our old Commissar did. You won't fool m-"
*BLAM*

cadbren wrote:I can also see more established IG planets providing their own recruits to the Schola Progenium in order to have their own commissars in a similar way astartes send out marines to the mechanicum to become tech marines.

Even if this would be the case, what exactly would this change? Imperial Guard regiments do not have "their own Commissars" like the Astartes have their Techmarines - all of them come from the Commissariat, a subdivision of the Departmento Munitorum. Besides, such planets would have absolutely no control over what happens to the child after it is surrendered to the Schola. Maybe it becomes a Commissar, but more likely it becomes a civilian scribe (as they make up the majority of Schola graduates), all depending on how the child fares and is evaluated by the Drill-Abbots. And even if the child is recruited into a Commissar Training Squad after graduating from the Schola, it need not belong to a local regiment.

cadbren wrote:Given the size of the Imperium it is likely that individual commissars would have uniforms made locally and that they would choose to have something similar to local styles to fit in better.

This misses the point of Commissars as being the link between regimental commanders and strategic officers from different worlds - and uniforms are provided not by the local PDF from which Guard regiments are raised, but the Imperium, which also supplies the Commissars themselves.

Also, what do Commissars have to do with modern police forces that, in some countries, may have different uniforms?

Honestly, there is absolutely nothing wrong with simply disregarding GW's stuff and coming up with own ideas, or following some Black Library novel or whatever. But let's at least clarify when we deviate from what it says in the codices and when we do not, a'ight?

Commissar uniforms differ.

Some wear coats, some wear capes.
Coats can be single or double breasted.
Coat lapels can differ in shape.
Coat can have epaulets or not.
Coat cuffs come in different styles as do collars.

Tunic worn underneath can be braided or buttoned.
Some commissars wear a breastplate or a gorget.

Commissars may wear an optional sash.

Any type of black boot can be worn.

Hats come in different styles. some are peaked at the top, some are rounded. Hat crest differs.

Uniform is black with red accents but those red accents are not standardised such as hat tops being black , black with red piping, red, red with black piping. Lining of coat or cloak can be black or red. Coat or cloak tends to be black with or without red accents/piping.

There is a lot of variation in the models and the art if you look closer. Having a peaked cap with a lower peak is not going to confuse anyone with an IQ greater than a squig.

Compare too officers of pre 20th century armies who wore custom uniforms. The uniforms all followed a general pattern for that army but they had some freedom to personalise their own uniform.
The Imperium is too vast to have standardised uniforms across the gulf of space. The best you could hope for was some consistency within each sector.

 Swastakowey wrote:
Well so fluff wise the black and crimson colours with peaked cap and an overcoat with the insignia is the important bits really? Im aware i can do as i wish but i kinda want it to be accurate in terms of background ish. do they have different uniforms for different environments because in a heated desert that would get awfully hot, so there could be room for change if thats the case.


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well what i have planned works except the colour scheme, which is fine, the uniform is pretty much the same except the hat and cape so just having it commissar colours will be fine fluff wise then.

British army at that time at least were pretty stubborn about appearance. They wore the same uniform in South Africa, North Africa and India. I think they only changed to khaki after reaslising that red in otherwise sand coloured landscapes was a good way to get your troops shot by the enemy.


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What are you using for your troops by the way, GW stuff or Victoria Miniatures or something else?

cadbren wrote:Commissar uniforms differ. Some wear coats, some wear capes. Hats come in different styles. some are peaked at the top, some are rounded.

You did see the Codex quote? They all wear coats. They all wear peaked caps. They all wear black. Everything else falls under the "subtle variances" which I did mention in my previous post.

The cape, which on the miniature is worn in addition to the uniform coat, seems to denote a Lord Commissar, although this is but interpretation based on the model. It may well be that normal Commissars may get a less flashy one for certain environments, but if so this isn't represented on any of the minis or any of the artworks.

Swastakowey wrote:Well so fluff wise the black and crimson colours with peaked cap and an overcoat with the insignia is the important bits really?

Yup! At least that's what the book says. As both cadbren and I mentioned, there can be minor differences - the important bit is that they are immediately recognisable as Commissars, which should be achievable by the aforementioned details.

Different uniforms for different environments doesn't seem to be the case in GW's interpretation, as that would conflict with the Codex quote - and Armageddon is fairly hot, yet still the mini has the coat and even a gas mask. Nobody said that service in the Emperor's armies was easy, right?
But perhaps they would grant themselves the luxury of unbuttoning the uniform below their coat just a bit.



For inspiration, perhaps this short collection of Commissar artworks from the various codices would help. Normally, I'd caution about giving too much thought about artworks, as illustrators - just like writers - often take considerable artistic licence, especially in a franchise whose canon is as loose as 40k's. But maybe this just makes it all the more remarkable that the look of Commissars remained fairly consistent throughout the decades?

What colour will the russ be? The artillery back then was light grey I think or will you do something else?

 Lynata wrote:


The cape, which on the miniature is worn in addition to the uniform coat, seems to denote a Lord Commissar, although this is but interpretation based on the model. It may well be that normal Commissars may get a less flashy one for certain environments, but if so this isn't represented on any of the minis or any of the artworks.

I'm not arguing with you, I think we're looking at the same thing from different sides is all.

For inspiration, perhaps this short collection of Commissar artworks from the various codices would help. Normally, I'd caution about giving too much thought about artworks, as illustrators - just like writers - often take considerable artistic licence, especially in a franchise whose canon is as loose as 40k's. But maybe this just makes it all the more remarkable that the look of Commissars remained fairly consistent throughout the decades?

Mr Bean would've made a great Commissar Gaunt. His personal transport would have to be a yellow mini though.

cadbren wrote:Mr Bean would've made a great Commissar Gaunt. His personal transport would have to be a yellow mini though.

Don't put such images in my head!

And yeah, with such fine details it's easy to rub elbows on fairly minor points. The "same thing from different sides" is a good way of putting it. I just hope I didn't come across as too smart-assed.

Swastakowey wrote:On the topic of uniforms, any ideas for a cool Praetorian Marbo? I was thinking of making some Australian Crocodile Dundee looking guy. "that aint a knife, this is a knife" kinda like guy.

Absolutely love this idea! Do it! Be sure to give him the right hat, too.

 Lynata wrote:

cadbren wrote:Mr Bean would've made a great Commissar Gaunt. His personal transport would have to be a yellow mini though.

Don't put such images in my head!

And yeah, with such fine details it's easy to rub elbows on fairly minor points. The "same thing from different sides" is a good way of putting it. I just hope I didn't come across as too smart-assed.

Not at all, we're all 40K fans here and for good or worse fan stands for fanatical.