Can it be torn or dirtied? As if taken from someone on the battlefield.
The coloring should be simpler, otherwise it's too much for a volunteer.
The unupgraded version could be called a volunteer, and the upgrade could be linked to the remnants of some imperial organization.
In the free cities, there could be its own "legion" consisting of the best volunteers; the weapons could remain the same as when the organization left the empire.
Added 6 minutes later
The volunteer could have the white squares removed from their clothing, leaving only the red color (or any other), and a dragon symbol could be drawn on their chest (all crates with goods are marked with this symbol; there must be a global cartel in the free cities)