To designate his regiment to his men and others, an officer wore a
collar insignia on the collar of the officer's tunic. The example below
is from the 32nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry.
By regulation the insignia was to be one inch high and of gold,
gilt metal or of gold embroidery. This example is meant to give
the appearance of a gold embroided insignia. The crossed rifles indicate
infantry (crossed sabers would indicate cavalry, and crossed cannon
barrels would indicate artillery). Similar to the hat
insignia, the number indicates the regiment. By regulation, below
the crossed rifles is the state designation. In this case, we see
"MICH" indicating Michigan. This particular example was found among the
belongings of Dr. Arend Van der Veen who had served as a surgeon in the
Civil War.
