Polish Moro patterns

After some extensive research and examination of many items I can confirm that there were five moro camouflage patterns in existance.

Moro LWP (Ludowe Wojsko Polskie)
Moro, Army: dark green "worms" on a grey-green background.

Moro Wojsk Lotniczych i Marynarki Wojennej
Moro, Air Forces and Marines: black "worms" on a grey-green background.

Moro MO (Milicja Obywatelska)
Moro, Police: dark blue "worms" on a grey-green background.

Moro SW (Sluzba Wiezienna)
Moro, Prison Service: black "worms" on a purple-blue background.

Moro Straz pozarna
Moro, Fire Service: Much larger black "worms" on a grey-green background.

Here is an image I made for comparison. All items are brand new and mint condition so colour variation is not due to fading.

Left to right: Prison Service, Police, Airforce/Marines, Army; and in the background you can see the Fire Service moro.


Airforce/Marines moro is the rarest, Army moro the most common. The two most likely to be confused are the Police and Airforce/Marines patterns.

Some Army items of clothing have been died black by soldiers, leaving the moro pattern still visible but very dark.

To my knowledge only the Prison Service and Fire Service moro is still in use today. The Fire Service moro these days is only used by Fire Service volunteer cadets.

Hope this helps. Post closeups of your moro patterns if you need any help.

Regards,
Martin.

Nice hat! I've seen the uniform before, but never the hat.

Steve

Nice Fire Brigade uniform. There are several versions of this uniform, including post-communist era versions. I think I have at least 4 different versions.

Prior to the unique Fire Brigade moro pattern being introduced, the Fire Brigade used field uniforms in the wz68 Army green moro pattern, but of unique Fire Brigade construction. Here are some pics of one of these uniforms that I have. I also have a cap but haven't taken photos of it yet...

Polish Fire department also used the Rain pattern fatigues

casper_platoon wrote:Polish Fire department also used the Rain pattern fatigues

I haven't seen them yet... Do you know if they were different construction to the LWP versions?

I haven't seen them yet... Do you know if they were different construction to the LWP versions?

Yes they were different. I will try to find foto.

Classy cammo .

owen

I know it's a pretty crappy pattern as far as camo goes, just like the rain drop patterns, but there is something very intrinsically interesting about Polish moro patterns (I reckon anyway...). The different colourations and the multitude of different uniform variations produced in this pattern (for example the different standard field uniforms, airborne smocks and uniforms, generals' uniforms and even greatcoat) add more interest. wz68 moro was introduced in 1968 when the wz58 deszczyk began to be phased out (I have some items that combine both - eg 1968 first pattern winter coat with a deszczyk liner), and the Army, airforce and marines moro was phased out from 1989 when the wz89 Puma pattern began to be issued. Internal Service and Police units retained their version of the blue moro (which bacame more grey than blue in the 1990s) well into the late 1990s and perhaps even into the early 2000s. The Prison service moro was still in active service with prison guards at least a couple of years ago and might still be. The Fire Service moro again was still issued to volunteer firefighter cadets at least a couple of years ago and maybe still. Why the hell a fire service would want a camo or low vis uniform is weird, but the two most likely expainations are: 1) As it was an official service during the communist regime the fire service needed an official uniform in the style of the other defence/security services as a symbol of authority; 2)The purpose of the pattern was to make dirt/stains from firefighting less visible, just like the US Navy digital uniforms supposedly were designed to hide grease stains. Or a combination of both these reasons.

Moro uniforms from 1968 to the late 1980s were extremely well constructed and tailored, with many pockets. Soldiers actually looked good in them. They are still highly regarded as sturdy, high quality uniforms in Poland compared to modern stuff that doesn't last. They are particularly sought after by hunters and the like to use as sturdy, heavy duty field uniforms.

I selling off some doubles of moro items that I have, if anyone is interested check under Ebay member mdwa

here are some camo which was used in Poland
https://picasaweb.google.com/magdalen22/POLANDUNIFORMSCAMO

Word "MORO" is an acronym, derived from "Material Odziezowy Roboczo-Ochronny" ("Working-Protective Clothing Fabric", propably in order to hide its purpose ("Camouflage Fabric" would be too much obvious in socreality ).

Army "US" (Ubior Skoczka, Jump/Para Uniform) with "rogatywka" (squared cap} compared with ACU:

vonstuck wrote:

Airforce black moro. Red stamp = issued to JW3451 which was the 14 Batalion Budowy Lotnisk (14th Airfield Construction Battalion).

Okruch wrote:

Moro works better!

This jacket + 2 precedent

[quote="Okruch"]Word "MORO" is an acronym, derived from "Material Odziezowy Roboczo-Ochronny" ("Working-Protective Clothing Fabric", propably in order to hide its purpose ("Camouflage Fabric" would be too much obvious in socreality ).

Not exactly correct. In every military specifications and brand articles there is "mora" not "moro". So from my point of view "mora" is correct name.

For me "moro" is just commonly used deformed form of "mora".

MORO stands for "Material Odziezowy Roboczo-Ochronny"? I don't think so. Firstly "working-protective" combination sounds stupid even for socreality. Secondly "mora" wasn't used for
working uniforms till "mora" was phased out by "puma".

vonstuck wrote:

Left: wz68 Grey Moro (Police)
Centre: wz68 Black Moro (Navy, Air Force and Air Defence)
Right: wz68 Green Moro (Army, Airborne/SF, Border Guard, Fire Service, Civil Defence)

abrakadabra wrote:

Okruch wrote:Word "MORO" is an acronym, derived from "Material Odziezowy Roboczo-Ochronny" ("Working-Protective Clothing Fabric", propably in order to hide its purpose ("Camouflage Fabric" would be too much obvious in socreality ).

Not exactly correct. In every military specifications and brand articles there is "mora" not "moro". So from my point of view "mora" is correct name.

For me "moro" is just commonly used deformed form of "mora".

MORO stands for "Material Odziezowy Roboczo-Ochronny"? I don't think so. Firstly "working-protective" combination sounds stupid even for socreality. Secondly "mora" wasn't used for
working uniforms till "mora" was phased out by "puma".

I also heard reference to "Mora" however I don't think I have found the word on any factory tags. I'm also not so sure the acronym is correct or just a rumour. However, I have seen the word "Moro" on a factory tag of a 1984 Fire Service moro winter jacket. But this doesn't really prove anything other than the factory that produced these uniforms used the word "Moro" in an official sense.

I also read somewhere that "Moro" means the squiggly pattern on your TV when there is no signal, and that the camo pattern was named after this. Again, I'm not so sure about the authenticity of this story...

1984 jacket:
http://camouniforms.net/index.php/eastern-europe/poland/straz-pozarna-fire-brigade-moro/winter-jackets/55-1984-straz-pozarna-fire-service-moro-winter-coat

Factory tag:
http://camouniforms.net/cache/multithumb_thumbs/b_0_0_0_10_images_Images_Eastern_Europe_Poland_Fire_Service_Moro_1984_Fire_Service_Moro_winter_jacket_IMG_7341.jpg

So:

1)


it's factory tag for four fingers gloves. And You can see on it: 'mora "czarna"'

2)

"Laboratory research of proposed fabric proved that in comparision to so far used fabric with print "mora" it ..."
It's part of article in brand press "Przegląd Kwatermistrzowski" ("Quartermaster's Review") wchich is i think a reliable source of knowledge.

I was wondering if this this example is correct for an LWP uniform or a post-communist copy for the civil service or something, I don't see any dates on it:

http://camouniforms.net/index.php/eastern-europe/poland/wz68-green-moro/325-polish-wz68-green-moro-uniforms

wz4652 model - issued between 1986 and 1989. The trousers are dated April 1988 (4 88), no pic of the shirt stamp but it should be 1986 to 1989. Are the buttons on the shirt black or brown? The pattern of the trousers looks like wz68 Green Moro - so Army issue (should have brown buttons). So yes, Communist era LWP.

Thanks again for your encyclopedic knowledge on anything "mora" (as opposed to "moro").

You need to write a book!

No worries, anytime glad to help.

Not sure about books anymore - they seem to be superseded by the internet these days..

I'm continually writing things up as articles on CamoUniforms.net which is keeping me pretty busy...

I know it's an old thread, but I wanted to share pics of this odd piece I have in my collection - it appears to be a variation of wz 5614 police moro, but it's on a light gray fabric, with dark blue camo spots. Unfortunately, the stamps are washed out... Hard to say which branch it was issued to, or if it was only a trial version.
I added a picture of standard wz 5614 of blue moro for comparison.