<P> In today's Germany, inmates may wear regular civilian clothing in some prisons . In other prisons prison uniforms are compulsory . If a prisoner cannot afford to have his own clothing cleaned and / or replaced, they may be issued with a prison uniform . There are also facilities with no prison uniforms . </P> <P> In the United Kingdom, prison uniforms formerly consisted of a white jacket, trousers and pillbox hat, all stamped with the broad arrow to denote crown property . </P> <P> The idea of covering the uniforms of Penal Servitude prisoners with the broad arrow was first introduced by Sir Edmund Du Cane in the 1870s after his appointment as Chairman of Convict Directors and Surveyor - General of prisons . Du Cane considered the broad arrow to be a hindrance to escape and also a mark of shame . It was certainly unpopular with the convicts . "All over the whole clothing were hideous black impressions of the Broad Arrow", wrote one prisoner . Another considered the "hideous dress" to be "the most extraordinary garb I had ever seen outside a pantomime". Men sent to public - works prisons were issued with boots . One prisoner, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, left this description: "Fully fourteen pounds in weight . I put them on and the weight of them served to fasten me to the ground . It was not that alone, but the sight of the impression they left on the gutter as you looked at the footprints of those who walked before you, struck terror to your heart . There was the felon's brand of the' broad arrow' impressed on the soil by every footstep...the nails in the soles of your boots and shoes were hammered in an arrow shape, so that whatever ground you trod you left traces that Government property had travelled over it ." The broad arrow markings were used until 1922 . </P> <P> Currently prisoners are clothed in a standard issue prison uniform, which consists of a grey sweat shirt, a grey jumper, and grey soft trousers (jogging bottoms). All male prisoners must wear the uniform during the first two weeks, and are then entitled to wear some of their own clothes if they choose to after obtaining a higher enchanted reward level, for doing things such as performing their prison chores and keeping good behavior, etc . Although this is except for dangerous criminals, usually in Category A maximum security prisons, who are assessed as having a high escape attempt, they are required to wear yellow and green boiler suits . Remanded prisoners in the UK may wear their own clothing . Prisoners in Category D open prisons can also wear their own clothing, but not anything that resembles a prison officers uniform . </P>

A convicted criminal wearing a prison uniform is an example of a person who has been