10 U.S.C. § 771
Section 771 · Unauthorized wearing prohibited
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Hoskin v. Resor (1971)
Most recently applied in 841 F. Supp. 2d 233 - American Federation of Government Employees v. Secretary of the Air Force (January 2012)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Except as otherwise provided by law, no person except a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force, as the case may be, may wear—
(1) the uniform, or a distinctive part of the uniform, of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force; or
(2) a uniform any part of which is similar to a distinctive part of the uniform of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
The words "Except as otherwise provided by law" are inserted to give effect to exceptions in other revised sections of this title and to provisions of other laws giving such organizations as the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Public Health Service permission to wear military uniforms under certain conditions.
Amendments
2021—Pub. L. 116–283 substituted "Marine Corps, or Space Force" for "or Marine Corps" wherever appearing.