58-1-602 - Unlawful wearing of uniform or decorations.

58-1-602. Unlawful wearing of uniform or decorations.

(a)  (1)  It is unlawful for any person not an officer or enlisted man of the armed forces of the United States, to wear the currently and duly prescribed uniform of the armed forces of the United States, or any distinctive part of such uniform, or a uniform, any part of which is similar to distinctive part of the duly prescribed uniform of any of the armed forces of the United States.

     (2)  The provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to prevent members of organizations known as the Boy Scouts of America, or the naval militia, or such other organizations as the secretary of defense may designate, from wearing their prescribed uniforms, nor to prevent persons who in time of war have served honorably in the armed forces of the United States, from wearing the uniform as may be prescribed by the laws of the United States; nor to prevent other duly designated organizations, schools, colleges, universities, cadet corps, military societies, or instructors, from wearing the uniform as prescribed by the laws of the United States; nor to prevent the wearing of the uniform in playhouses, theaters, or moving pictures, as may be prescribed by the laws of the United States; and provided further, that the members of the military societies and instructors and members of the cadet corps hereinbefore mentioned shall not wear the insignia of rank prescribed to be worn by officers of the armed forces of the United States, or any insignia of rank similar thereto.

(b)  A violation of this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

[Acts 1970, ch. 596, § 95; T.C.A., § 7-302; Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 113.]