Argentine Artillery Officer and Friends, c.
1912.
The middle officer in the first photograph is the same man
as third from left in the second picture. The flaming grenades on his uniform
are traditional insignia for artillery, and in bothh these photos he appears to
be sole representative of that branch. In the first photo two of the officers
wear dark blue tunics trimmed with black tape. The third officer wears a white
uniform for warm weather.
In the photograph below, all but our artilleryman wear the number 14 inspite of
otherwise having different uniform details. I believe the "14" must refer to a
brigade or division composed of artillery, infantry, and probably other
branches. The three officers on the left wear the dark blue tunic with black
tape trim as seen in the first photo, but the man on the far right has a fly
front tunic with no visible buttons, and his collar is noticeably higher and
has larger colored patches.
It's my supposition that company-grade officer rank is shown by the simple
shoulder straps, while field-grade officers are distinguished by wider straps
with room for rank pips. In the Argentine army, these pips were suns with a
human face. The cockade on the caps would be light blue and white.
Page by Mark Conrad, 2010.