gold and red change

[new_mercury]

I was wondering the other day. I don't think I have ever heard a reason why the colours gold and red in the uniforms swapped meaning from TOS to TNG etc i.e. from command to support and vice versa. Is there a reason why it was changed. was it decided by G.R?

 

[clint g]

It was because Patrick Stewart looked better in red rather than gold. Another interesting thing is that Data was supposed to be in blue but because it looked bad with the gold makeup they switched it to gold

 

[new_mercury]

It was because Patrick Stewart looked better in red rather than gold. Another interesting thing is that Data was supposed to be in blue but because it looked bad with the gold makeup they switched it to gold

really?! thanks. I thought it might have been because GR prefered the red after seeing the uniforms in the TOS movies and wanted the captain in it but as usual the real reason is much more simple.

 

[Tachyon]

Interesting. I have wondered this color change myself too.

 

[Crewman47]

Photoshopped from the first couple of scenes from Encounter at Farpoint, Picard in Gold and Data in Blue:

To be honest I think it looks okay. It might've worked over time.

 

[new_mercury]

Photoshopped from the first couple of scenes from Encounter at Farpoint, Picard in Gold and Data in Blue:

To be honest I think it looks okay. It might've worked over time.

I think it only looks so strange because I'm used to seeing it as it was. This shows how it could have been. Fascinating!

 

[Crewman47]

Just thought that if someone had the time, patience and software available they could photoshop an entire clip from an episode, or if you're daring a whole eipsode, and change the uniform colours to the TOS colours.

It'd be big project but I doubt anybody would really have the time to do something like this.

 

[NumberOne]

Photoshopped from the first couple of scenes from Encounter at Farpoint, Picard in Gold and Data in Blue:

To be honest I think it looks okay. It might've worked over time.

I agree. I think Picard and Data look just fine in gold / blue, respectively.

 

[LeadHead]

I'm glad they went with the choices they did, Red works for Command Better than the gold.

 

[sbk1234]

Personally, I would have liked the continuity with TOS of keeping gold for command, etc., but due to the TWOK uniform color scheme, it still maintains a sense of continuity for me.

 

[Islander]

I think the best ideas were when all uniforms were the same (black&gray for DS9, blue for Enterprise) with a small indicator of color (collar for DS9, line for Enterprise).

First, this just makes more sense to me (could you image our armies, police, ... with 3 different uniforms). Second, it avoided characters looking bad.

 

[sbk1234]

^^^Actually, most armies have quite a few more uniforms than are represented on Star Trek.

 

[Islander]

For distinct scenarios: Desert camouflage, snow, parade, ... Starfleet has that too but x3.

 

[KimMH]

I thought about how unwieldy it would be to have all those uniforms but realized people probabaly just throw the unis into a recycle bin and replicators create whatever uniform is required for the coming duty. I WANT THAT!

 

[sbk1234]

Not only. for example, on a modern aircraft carrier, the flight deck crew will wear different colors based on what their job is on the deck. There are other examples, as well.

 

[Islander]

Not only. for example, on a modern aircraft carrier, the flight deck crew will wear different colors based on what their job is on the deck. There are other examples, as well.

I didn't think of that, good point. But the setup demands this for everybody to know who's doing what without confusion. On the bridge, there's no such activity and a single uniform would be sufficient.

 

[FormerLurker]

GR switched them because he was tired of our 'redshirt' references.

 

[roguephoenix]

I was wondering the other day. I don't think I have ever heard a reason why the colours gold and red in the uniforms swapped meaning from TOS to TNG etc i.e. from command to support and vice versa. Is there a reason why it was changed. was it decided by G.R?

for the same reason trills went from head ridges to body spots. it just looked better. and as someone said, red is more of a command color than gold. if you look at royal garbs, though they have gold as decoration, the main cloth color is most often red.

 

[Myasishchev]

Command should be purple. If it was good enough for the Romans, it's good enough for Starfleet.

Although iirc what they called "purple" is supposed to be more like our blood red...

 

[Daneel]

I often wondered this myself, and I asked the same question a few months ago. I received many of the same answers as the ones offered here, but if you're interested anyway, here's the thread.