What does the yellow stripe on the Army uniform trousers mean?

Answer 1

this stripe refers to Artillery Men. By the early 19th Century each branch of the US armed forces was assigned a 'facing' colour and for the Artillery the colour was scarlet. By 1834 collars and cuffs of the jacket were trimmed with red surrounded by two cords of yellow. As a further distinction, officers and NCO's wore trim down the seams of trousers. Later, Artillery companies serving in the Mexican war, 1846-1847 were issued with uniforms that differed from the other corps by having a 3/4 inch stripe down the seams of the trousers. With the development of high velocity arms and ammunition in the early 1900's, coloured stripes disappeared in favour of drab uniforms. In 1924, uniforms were not attractive and to add some colour a stripe on the trousers, to be colour of the arm of the service, was introduced. With the advent of the 1940's war uniforms lost their colour. In later years a new regulation provided the army with a Dress Uniform, and for Artliiery Men, a Yellow stripe down the trousers