Uniform colours- is there a system?

[LilyB]

This may seem silly to some, but I am wondering how/if the colours of the uniforms mean anything? The ensen wears red/black the same colour as the Captain, others wear blue/black, others yellow/black?
Thankyou!

[FinalFrontier]

Basically:

Red is the command track. That is what you wear if you are in command or you don't hold a position with any of the science or engineering teams, or you aren't on security.

Blue is medical and sciences. The doctors and other scientists wear blue.

Gold is security and engineering. All the engineers and everyone assigned to security wear gold.

[Holdfast]

^ What he said.

It sounds like you're fairly new to Star Trek; if you watch the original series at some point as well as TNG, you'll note the command and engineering colours are swapped round between the two series. Rumour has it that the reason is that Data's makeup tested better with yellow than red, so they switched the colours around. Not sure if that's true or just something I heard once.

[Lazarus]

FinalFrontier wrote:

---

Basically:

Red is the command track. That is what you wear if you are in command or you don't hold a position with any of the science or engineering teams, or you aren't on security.

Blue is medical and sciences. The doctors and other scientists wear blue.

Gold is security and engineering. All the engineers and everyone assigned to security wear gold.

Security and engineering are generally grouped together as 'operations', presumably ship-related duties like engineering and security (as you've mentioned).

Medical and science are also usually grouped together as simply 'sciences', medicine, astronomy, geology, all that stuff under the one umbrella.

RED
Command

GOLD
Operations

BLUE
Sciences

[iguana_tonante]

Command colors (gold for Classic, red from TNG onward) include also Helm and Navigation, Strategic Operation (Worf on DS9).

(just because I'm compulsive enought to point out)

[LilyB]

Oh thanku, that makes perfect sense now!! Yes, I am fairly new to star trek! I watched it a bit as a kid, but i was really more into girly stuff, so it didn't grab me at all. I have tried to watch dvd of Deep space 9, the series, but after a few episodes, i couldn't stand it!! Personally speaking, it seemed that the characters were nowhere near as moral/ ethical/deep rooted in integrity etc as TNG. It seemed more like a soap opera set in space, where as I feel like i have actually grown as a person with TNG, have laughed out loud & cried also!

[MikeS]

LilyB wrote:

---

grab me at all. I have tried to watch dvd of Deep space 9, the series, but after a few episodes, i couldn't stand it!!

I felt like that on first viewings of DS9, but it really does get better by its third season. I'm glad I stuck with it. It is now difficult for me to decide which series is my favourite - DS9 or TNG.

[nx1701g]

^ What he said. In all honesty I do believe DS9 is my favorite and it just narrowly beats TNG.

I also had trouble getting into DS9 when I first saw it.

[BolianAuthor]

To be fair, the red division could also encompass some form of OPS, at least in a maybe administrative capacity, because we have on a few instances, seen a red uniform at the OPS station, as a temp officer, and we also have seen many a redshirted Ensign in the background, carrying PADDs to and from various places, so maybe they're like the "interns" of the Command division, carrying out the less-glamorous administrative duties?

[Wingsley]

As I recall, the "red" color signifying command division was actually "wine".

[USS Excelsior]

They could have had additional colours to be more specific, like a different colour for Medical and Operations and Security.

Not seen on-screen are additional colours like green for Starfleet Marines, and white for Starfleet Intelligence.

[CoveTom]

Also keep in mind that the absolutes regarding uniform colors are not really absolutes but "most of the times." If they were on a tight deadline or budget, they may have thrown an actor into whatever they had available, but normally they were consistent.

Also, sometimes in the context of the story a character will change position without necessarily changing uniforms, but sometimes they do. For example, when Data was moved to first officer under Captain Jellico in "Chain of Command," he switched to the red/maroon uniform. But when he was placed in command of the Excalibur in "Redemption," he stays in gold.

[The Grim Ghost]

LilyB wrote:

---

Oh thanku, that makes perfect sense now!! Yes, I am fairly new to star trek! I watched it a bit as a kid, but i was really more into girly stuff, so it didn't grab me at all. I have tried to watch dvd of Deep space 9, the series, but after a few episodes, i couldn't stand it!! Personally speaking, it seemed that the characters were nowhere near as moral/ ethical/deep rooted in integrity etc as TNG. It seemed more like a soap opera set in space, where as I feel like i have actually grown as a person with TNG, have laughed out loud & cried also!

Well you should be able to enjoy at least the 1st 2 seasons of DS9, they are more similar in tone to TNG than the rest of the series. But I would give the entire series a chance someday. Once I felt similar to you and I converted to the way of the Sisko!

[Red Ranger]

LilyB: Welcome to our weird corner of the 'Net. If you have time, in each forum, there's a sticky for each series with commonly asked questions and their answers. Check that out, and enjoy! -- RR

[Admiral Shran]

Holdfast wrote:

---

^ What he said.

It sounds like you're fairly new to Star Trek; if you watch the original series at some point as well as TNG, you'll note the command and engineering colours are swapped round between the two series. Rumour has it that the reason is that Data's makeup tested better with yellow than red, so they switched the colours around. Not sure if that's true or just something I heard once.

If that is true, I have disagree with the producers. I always thought Data looked better in the red uniform. Maybe it's just that I'm so used to seeing him in the gold that the change is nice.