I was browsing on Wikipedia and came across this photo of some Gurkhas. But I don’t understand what is causing that line across their faces. It almost looks like they took the chin strap for their hats and stretched it right under their lower lips instead of under their chins. I couldn’t find any other pictures of Gurkhas that looked like this. What’s going on here?
Chin straps.
They were originally designed to keep the hat on in the wind, but some military units changed them so instead of going under the chin, they went across it. I guess it managed to keep the hat on, while giving the soldiers a different look.