Greek Corporal and Sergeant Candidate Course insignia
The 1938 Regulation regarding the Army Privates' uniforms makes mention of the insignia which were to be worn by the Candidate Corporals and Sergeants.
On paragraph 55, page 54, we read:
"The students of the Candidate Corporals Platoons bear on their left arm a silk stripe, 0.010 (m) in height and 0.055 (m) in length, of the same colour as the one of the NCOs' rank insignia (Note: The latter being yellow for the Infantry and the Cavalry, light orange for the Artillery and the Engineers and white for the Corps).
The Corporals studying in the Candidate Sergeants Platoons bear two of the aforementioned stripes, one over the other, with a space of 0.005 (m) between them, above the Corporal's rank insignia."
On paragraph 55, page 54, we read:
"The students of the Candidate Corporals Platoons bear on their left arm a silk stripe, 0.010 (m) in height and 0.055 (m) in length, of the same colour as the one of the NCOs' rank insignia (Note: The latter being yellow for the Infantry and the Cavalry, light orange for the Artillery and the Engineers and white for the Corps).
The Corporals studying in the Candidate Sergeants Platoons bear two of the aforementioned stripes, one over the other, with a space of 0.005 (m) between them, above the Corporal's rank insignia."
The stripes were still in use postwar, with the 1953 regulation mentioning in the amendment to Chapter C, Paragraph 1c, page 33, that:
"The students of the Candidate Corporals Platoons or Companies bear on the middle of their left arm a silk stripe of light orange colour, 0.010 m in height and 0.050 in length, sewn on a piece of cloth 0.054 in length and 0.014 in height.
The Candidate Sergeants bear two parallel stripes with a space of 0.005 m between them".
Could the regulations then serve as a guide for the identification of pre- and postwar stripes? First, the difference in length is really minute. The colour may also not be a reliable tell-tale sign, due to different reasons, one being that "light orange" stripes are mentioned in both regulations and, moreover, the fact that "light orange" here may be misleading. In the 1938 regulation there is a clear division between the Infantry and Cavalry insignia on the one hand and the Artillery and Engineers on the other. The difference in the colour should then be equally clear. The problem appears in the 1953 regulation, in which "light orange" is the only colour mentioned, but having chosen this as the translation of the Greek word "krokinon", literally meaning the colour of the crocus flower or even of the egg's yolk, there may have been a wide range of shades between light orange and yellow on the different examples of the insignia.
So, the safest way to tell a postwar stripe from a prewar one appears to be that the first were sewn on a piece of cloth slightly larger than the stripe.
"The students of the Candidate Corporals Platoons or Companies bear on the middle of their left arm a silk stripe of light orange colour, 0.010 m in height and 0.050 in length, sewn on a piece of cloth 0.054 in length and 0.014 in height.
The Candidate Sergeants bear two parallel stripes with a space of 0.005 m between them".
Could the regulations then serve as a guide for the identification of pre- and postwar stripes? First, the difference in length is really minute. The colour may also not be a reliable tell-tale sign, due to different reasons, one being that "light orange" stripes are mentioned in both regulations and, moreover, the fact that "light orange" here may be misleading. In the 1938 regulation there is a clear division between the Infantry and Cavalry insignia on the one hand and the Artillery and Engineers on the other. The difference in the colour should then be equally clear. The problem appears in the 1953 regulation, in which "light orange" is the only colour mentioned, but having chosen this as the translation of the Greek word "krokinon", literally meaning the colour of the crocus flower or even of the egg's yolk, there may have been a wide range of shades between light orange and yellow on the different examples of the insignia.
So, the safest way to tell a postwar stripe from a prewar one appears to be that the first were sewn on a piece of cloth slightly larger than the stripe.
The two sides of a postwar stripe.