Royal Marines vs. US Marine Corps

As requested by SeaPuppy1: Some Royal Marines

On the left are a corporal and a captain in the Royal Marines (of Great Brittan), and on the right are a corporal and a captain of the United States Marine Corps. Interestingly, RM officers (excluding officer cadets) don't wear high-collared jackets like enlisted marines; instead they wear an open jacket with a dress shirt and tie (similar to female US marines). As with most British uniforms, all Royal Marines wear similar red stripes on the side of their pants (as opposed to American privates and corporals who do not wear stripes), and metal "RM" titles on their shoulder straps.

I also noticed that many British marines have one or no medals, while all American Marines receive two medals upon completing basic training (ie. boot camp) and many are awarded "achievement medals," "commendation medals" and "service medals" that simply do not exist in other countries. Americans receive good conduct medals and service stripes every 3 or 4 years (depending on service branch), while Canada and the UK give out service medals after 12 years. Americans indicate multiple awards with stars or oak leafs pinned to their medals, while Commonwealth militaries add medal bars for multiple awards, and many medals (eg. Jubilee medals) cannot be awarded more than once.

American Marines LOVE showing off their dress blues; they are an integral part of their identity (or at least their advertisements) while Royal Marines seem to shy away from the spotlight. In researching these uniforms I was able to look at hundreds of high resolution photos of US marines, and I drew dozens of Marines before I was able to put together a representative sample. Royal Marines seem to prefer combat fatigues and their classic green berets, and they only wear their dress uniforms at special events such as parades or weddings. In the end, I was only able to find a handful of usable photos of Royal Marines, so I admit these pictures might not be representative of the entire Royal Marines, just those who were easily photographed.