Russian Telnyashka Day Date in the current year: August 19, 2024

A telnyashka, also known as a Breton shirt, is a striped undershirt worn by military and civilian sailors in some countries. It is believed to have been invented by the fishermen of Brittany. Sailors used to say that the stripes made it easier to see men who had fallen into the sea.

Russian seamen began to wear striped undershirts in the 1860s. The white and blue striped telnyashka blouse was officially adopted by the Imperial Russian Navy on August 19, 1874. The order was signed by Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia and approved by Emperor Alexander II. That’s why August 19 is now celebrated as the birthday of the Russian telnyashka.

Originally, all telnyashkas had blue and white stripes in honor of the Russian Navy Ensign, also known as the St Andrew’s flag, that had a blue St Andrew’s cross on a white background. Today, different troops of the Russian Armed Forces have telnyashkas with stripes of different colors, for example, dark blue in the Navy, light blue in the Airborne Troops, black in the Naval Infantry, light green in the Border Troops, etc.