Russian shoulder boards?

[jamessolomon]

Have had the above in my aviation collection for ages but have never found out what they really are. Bought these in a charity shop when I missed out on an awesome Russian hat loaded with badges. Can someone identify what they are and what rank it its. I assumed from the badge on there it was wings so assumed aviation of some kind but may be wrong and they look older than ww2 maybe Cold War or even later but they still look cool whatever they turn out to be

[ArtistsRifles]

At first sight they look odd for Russian cold war. Soviet boards (Pogini) are usually parallel, not tapered as in the photo. And the rank stripes also seem odd. NCO stripes are normally parallel at right angles across the boards just above the CA letters (Советская Аpмия). Aviation units, regardless of type, normally have a blue board with the yellow stripes:

1 narrow stripe for a corporal

2 narrow stripes for a junior dergeant

3 narrow stripes for a sergeant

1 broad stripe for a senior sergeant

 

This is the typical Soviet Russian air force shoulder board for an enlisted man:

 

Up until 1963 there is also a broad strip running 3/4 of the way up the board which then meets a broad stripe going across the board and no CA letters on the board - this is a staff sergeant.

After 1963 the broad strip runs the full length of the board, again no letters.

 

An unlettered board with 2 small stars on it in line is a warrant officer, 3 stars is a senior warrant officer.

 

For the army the rank marks are the same but the boards change colour:

Red = Motorized Infantry

Black - Armour, Artillery, Technical

 

Even on the subdued uniforms brought in during the Afhgan war the stripes were still straight.

 

Post Glasnost the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation did adopt the chevron style markings - but not as pictured, the chevrons fit within the board - which remains the same shape and the lettering changes to reflect the branch of service:

 

 

 

• ВС — armed forces personnel (Bооружённые силы)
  
• Ф — fleet personnel (Флот)
  
• К — army and air force military student (Курсант)
  
• Anchor — naval military student
  
• Н — students of the Nakhimov Naval School (Нахимовское военно-морское училище)
  
• СВУ — students of the Suvorov Military School (Суворовское военное училище)
  
• ВМУ — students of the school of military music (Военно-музыкальное училище)
  
• КК — cadets of the cadet corps (Russian: Кадетский корпус; kadetsky korpus)
  
• МКК — Kronstadt sea cadet corps (Кронштадтский морской кадетский корпус)
  
• ВВ — internal troops (Внутренние войска)
  

 

[Enfield1940]

I think they're Soviet era civilian Aeroflot epaulettes, although I couldn't tell you what rank, etc.