Marine Corps Service Aiguillettes with two loops are worn by Marine personnel serving as aides or attaches attachés to military officers at a rank no higher than Major General or Real Admiral (upper half). Marine Corps be appointed to serve as aides to a governor of a state or territory also wear service aiguillettes made of two loops. Always worn on the left shoulder, two-loop Service Aiguillettes are not authorized for wear with the all-weather jacket, and regulations recommend they not be worn during precipitation because moisture may cause the scarlet coloring to run. shoulder.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
There are quite a few tall tales surrounding the origin of the aiguillettes worn by Marine Corps personnel serving as aides to General Officers, government officials, and foreign dignitaries and representatives. In fact, one of the most common myths—that they were originally designed with pens or pencils attached to their ends so officers would have quick access to a writing utensil—actually appeared in the “How Did it Start?” section of a 1944 edition of the Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin (later renamed All Hands magazine). Nearly 25 years later, All Hands corrected the error by pointing out that the design was actually inspired by a method of securing plates of armor that frequently left excess lacing hanging down from the shoulder area.
An even more exotic tale than the “handy pencil” story involved a Spanish General who, having heard of a group of Flemish soldiers who had fled against orders during combat, decreed that any future misconduct members of the suspect unit be punished by hanging the offenders. The Flemings, eager to make up the embarrassment, replied they would begin to wear a rope and a nail on the shoulders of their uniform so they might carry out the punishment posthaste—but their subsequent performance in combat was so exemplary that the “rope and nail” became a symbol of honor rather than shame.