Telnyashka: History of the Russian Navy Striped Shirt

What Is a Telnyashka?

In old times, sailors believed that the deep sea was filled with spirits and mermaids. Back then, very few people knew how to swim, so the ocean felt mysterious and dangerous.

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To protect themselves, sailors carried different talismans - earrings, mustaches, and that very striped shirt, the telnyashka.

Over time, all of these things became symbols of every true sailor.

And here is how the story goes.

It is believed that fishermen from French Brittany, at the same time as the Dutch, came up with the striped shirt. Sailors, as we know, have always been very superstitious.

There was a belief that if you were drowning while wearing stripes, the spirit of the sea would think you were already a skeleton, since only your “ribs” were visible.

So the telnyashka became a symbol of ignoring primitive fears. In the distant past, it was made from simple materials that were available at hand.

Poster from the time of the Great Patriotic War

Later, and don’t be surprised, the telnyashka even gained a kind of political meaning. Nothing less.

According to a decree in France, it was supposed to have exactly 12 stripes - one for each of Napoleon’s victories.

Sailors of the Imperial Russian Navy wearing telnyashkas

Of course, there was also a practical reason. The telnyashka is warm and fits the body closely, which helps sailors avoid getting caught on parts of the ship’s rigging. It also dries quickly.

And, of course, it protects you from sea spirits…

So it had plenty of advantages, and the Russian Navy was quick to adopt them.

Why the Telnyashka Became a Symbol of the Russian Navy

On August 19, 1874, the General Admiral of the Russian fleet, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, proposed to Alexander II that a new type of undergarment be introduced for the navy. That garment became the telnyashka.

The Emperor reacted positively to the proposal. And that is how the famous sailor’s telnyashka appeared in the Russian fleet.

Telnyashka (Telnik)

It was also called “telnik,” from the word “body,” meaning something worn directly on the skin.

Since then, the telnyashka has changed only once - in 1912, when all the stripes were made equal in width.

According to the official regulations on uniforms for the Russian Navy, it was ordered:

“For lower ranks of ships and naval crews of the Russian fleet, introduce the telnyashka (a shirt knitted from wool mixed half with cotton). Its color must be white with blue horizontal stripes, spaced one vershok apart (44.45 mm). The width of the blue stripes is a quarter of a vershok. The weight of the shirt must be no less than 80 zolotniks (344 grams).”

The color of the stripes, of course, matched the colors of the St. Andrew’s flag - the symbol of the Russian Navy.

Here we should add one more historical note. Dutch, French, and many other sailors used to wear striped shirts of completely random styles. In foreign fleets, the telnyashka was unofficial, and sailors could even be punished for wearing it. Stripes could be red or green, and sailors often made them themselves. The quality and fabric varied widely.

Still, this garment was practical. A striped telnyashka made a man clearly visible in the water, besides all the other advantages mentioned earlier. So it was not only sea spirits that helped the telnik become part of the official uniform of Russian sailors.

To This Day

Telnyashka Colors and Military Branches

Over time, different branches of the Russian and Soviet military adopted their own stripe colors. The color of the telnyashka shows which unit a soldier belongs to.

Orange stripes – EMERCOM (Ministry of Emergency Situations)

Black stripes – Naval Infantry and Submarine Forces

Green stripes – Border Troops

Light blue stripes – Airborne Troops (VDV)

Red stripes – Special Forces of the MVD

The classic dark blue stripes traditionally belong to the Navy and remain the most iconic version of the telnyashka.

The defense of Port Arthur, the heroic battle of the cruiser Varyag, the fight in the Korean Strait, the Battle of Tsushima, and the fighting in the Baltic and Black Seas during World War I - in all these battles, Russian sailors, protected by their beloved telnyashka, showed incredible bravery.

And of course, everyone remembers the bold revolutionary sailors as well.

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