What Do Starfleet Uniform Colors Mean?
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
- #startrek #starfleet #lore
The Starfleet uniform has changed dramatically throughout the course of the Star Trek franchise. But what do the different colors mean in each era, and which color would you wear if you worked on a starship?
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- CHAPTERS -
00:00 Intro
01:05 Rank, Insignia, and Divisions
06:24 Pre-TOS Uniforms
11:19 TOS Era Uniforms
15:28 TNG Era Uniforms
18:07 Far Future Uniforms
18:54 Final Thoughts & Outro - Krátké a kreslené filmy
The TOS movie era uniform will always be my favourite. That red jacket just works for me, like a sci fi age of sail!
The cold war themes + that uniform just feel right.
Fun fact -Gene hated them. And he was a WW2 veteran.
I like the TOS movie uniforms as military dress outfits but I hate them as division uniforms - they're barely distinguishable from each other. Naturally people in-universe would know the exact spot to look at to check someone's division or department, but for the audience it's a lot harder to tell whose job is what based on what they wear.
Definitely security, could see myself in Worf’s position. Offering an opinion on how to proceed, being ignored by the commander, shaking my head. Only later for commander to do that same thing an hour later. Shaking my head even further.
Remember the one time Ricker listened to Worf and it was so rare that he actually thanked Ricker for actually listening to him for once
Nah, you’d be Wesley Crusher 😂
Worf: "Captain, I recommend we raise sh-"
PIcard: "BELAY THAT ORDER"
Eject the Warp Core!
@KyrosX27 gets shot, proceeds to raise shields.
My favorite uniforms are probably those from the Enterprise era. They're actually _uniform,_ as in the same, with subtle touches of color for divisional differences. The whole starship-as-submarine vibe of that series was great.
DS9 late season actually feel more real. Like someone said "well if we just do the shirts with the different color. It would take less replicator usage due to less material for shirts". Basically feels and looks like something a real military would implement when logistics are involved.
It nicely reflected how the Federation was becoming more militarized in that era as a result of the Dominion War too.
I prefer the First Contact/late DS9 Uniform TBH ❤
I like the colour palette of it but the excessive padding kinda makes it off-looking. I know they switched to this uniform to help hide the ever increasing gut sizes of certain actors so I suppose it had to be done. Would be interesting to hear the thought process behind designing that costume
@@ThommyofThennI swear I saw a few episodes where they had the jacket... then vest underneath with second combadge...department shirt and undershirt
@@mem1701movies it seems they occasionally didn't have a uniform that fit a guest star or something like that. I think the costume dept. was forced to 'kitbash' parts of other costumes. Not 100% sure on it though, just something I read on trek bbs
I do too, very sharp attire by 2379!
Same, when I first saw these in usage in First Contact (and then DS9 afterward) I instantly fell in love with them, and I still prefer them above all other uniforms, while the red uniforms from the TOS movies from II onward would be my second favourite. Also, I agree with Tyler, the Strange New Worlds uniform variant of the TOS era are sharp as heck and I'd love to get one of those at some point as well.
As a chemist in my day job. I would be a lower decker working in some forgotten chem lab in the lower bowels of the ship. In a previous role I was the Senior Chemist and in charge of my lab, so I imagined myself as the commander of my department.
Dang, lost a pip
as a department head, you would probably be a lieutenant (e.g. Tasha) or lieutenant commander (Geordi). Maybe commander in a specialty department (medical, science specialist), as opposed to a "line officer" (don't get me started about the "command extension courses" ....)
SNW has the best looking uniforms, but ENT has the best usable uniform. ENT feels practical and realistic. If I had may way, ENT would be the work/field uniforms and SNW would be the service/office uniform. With TOS Dress Uniforms as the Dress Uniforms.
I was in the Navy, so my uniform pick is what I genuinely believe we will eventually evolve to, based on what's been used for centuries and even currently on ships. I believe the TNG movies/Late DS9 era" gray's and divisons" (divs for short) uniform is what we will end up wearing. Here's my rationale for any interested.
Enterprise did a fine job taking the standard Navy ship uniform, Coverall's, and applying it to NASA's base uniform, with multiple pockets and subtle division color references and patches. However, as we become more spacefaring, the need to carry so much equipment will be unnecessary as ships will be relatively small and most times tools are left only in designated work areas. The gray's and divs are basically what the Navy currently wears (watch how this ages like milk, seeing as how Star Trek based it's uniform changes directly on how frequently the Navy does lol), albeit with a subtle twist. By having the division color as an undershirt color, you keep the overall pride and lineage of divisions while maintaining a professional appearance that doesn't distract from immediate rank recognition. Which is a serious problem on early uniforms. On top of that, a unified comm badge is exactly what current branches have on their uniforms, for the Navy, the ACE (Anchor, Constitution-the ship, and Eagle).
Now another thing though which does happen in uncommon practice, is alternative dress. Think Kirks green wrap or Picard's Captains Jacket. I would not be surprised if a lenient captain allotted themselves some more obvious way to stand out on ship, as submariners tend to do variations of this. I also firmly believe the TOS movie era uniforms, I dub the Command Dress, should absolutely be the dress uniform for both enlisted and officers, for all formal functions. It looks astounding and our own Space Force has taken direct inspiration from that uniform for their own. That uniform and that one alone should keep "naval heritage" of piping, sleeve rank, and rank insignia.
For sure not the miniskirts?
@@totalCoolerUsername it may actually surprise you but recent Navy regulation has just brought back some old female specific dress uniform attire. So there's no reason to rule out that some way it could be an alteration to the uniform. And personally I don't think it would be too jarring of a look with the gray and division color uniform scheme
Very interesting. I also share your appreciation of the TOS movie uniforms. And thank you for writing your post in coherent paragraphs. Seems to be rare on youtube comment sections these days.
Division colors is more reminiscent of a flight deck uniform than a regular service/working uniform.
@@fredmdbud true, I just didn't want to add more confusion about the Navy's uniforms aboard ships. Which is another reason I think the gray's and div's is my choice for a Star Trek uniform
I like how Beckett Mariner goes around with her sleeves rolled up...maybe that makes her slightly unique. I like skirt variants worn by females. Always liked those different colors of blue, red, & yellow as well regardless of design.
I'm having a stressful friday, this is the unexpected distraction that I needed. Thanks.
My favorite uniform is the one Deanna Troi wore 2 days prior.
Let's go
To boldly go where only fans has gone before.
This is sick
@@ThommyofThennThis is sniff.
@@hugostiglitz5186 😏👃😼🐟
Just got back from the Smithsonian Air and Space museum,l where I got to see the original enterprise, only to have this waiting for me! Good day :)
Thanks for the video. I think my favorite uniforms are the Deep Space 9 versions, and the Wrath of Khan version. One really fun thing about Star Trek Online is being able to customize your own uniform.
SNW style uniforms are my favorite, latest and greatest but also classic.
The one from the mirror universe for me. And I can't forget that sweet goatee that Mr Spock was sporting. 😂😂😂
Mirror Hoshi Sato, ftw.
I share your uniform choices, but in my case the Lower Decks ranks higher, it might be my favourite design. Though the animated one looks better than the one in Strange New Worlds crossover. I guess costume design is highly dependant on the medium it is originally intended for.
Being animated the white divider line makes both colors opposing it "pop".
I forgot to answer the question: I would definitely wear Science Blue. Red uniforms are cool, tho, but probably not my branch
I'd guess I would be Blue, since nobody else on the ship is gonna tell the Captain that the place he is beaming down to might have some instability due to pariglacial activity.
My favorite uniform is the grey version from the Dominion War era but the TNG uniform introduced in the third season is a close second. I was under the impression that from Enterprise to TOS not all Starfleet personnel wore the delta because that was specific to the constitution class Enterprise and each crew had their own patches. But in the two Discovery era shows all Starfleet personnel wear the delta.
As I understand, TOS originally wanted distinct different insignia for each ship, but, budget constraints ended up forcing the producers to use the delta for all ships.
@@EdwardCooler-py6mu thank you. I think I I remember seeing uniforms with different ship patches in the episode The Ultimate Computer.
@@EdwardCooler-py6muit’s kind of the opposite - Roddenberry always wanted the delta for starships but did have other patches for space station and cargo ship crew.
But the costume department liked making different patches so much, they did it for other starships’ costumes too! Even though Roddenberry sent in-office memos not to 😂 some of those memos are quite funny to read.
What I liked most about Enterprise's uniforms was how they weren't far off from the crew attire onboard today's ISS. They're functional, with zippered pockets, velcro attachment points, so that if the NX01 lost containment or gravity the crew could still perform duties in zero-G. My favorite uniforms are from 2379, with the blue-gray shoulders with the division colors on the undershirt and wrist loops.
I'd move back and forth between Operations and Sciences Divisions. I'll ether be in engineering or in stellar cartography. I really enjoyed Harry Kim role, so i could see myself doing his job and switching to Command in my later years.
I enjoyed your dedication to the incoming transmission bit lol. Thank you for another interesting episode. I enjoy listening to these on my drive home from work.
God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)
Fan of the Lower Decks style. It's interesting how Starfleet divided itself between it's front line/first contact fleet and it's second contact/support fleet. The latter division getting the better, more colorful design. Almost a return to TNG style.
I have to say, I really love the Uniform in Picard season 1. Really sharp looking 👍. Great episode Taylor, thanks! 🖖😎🤘🇨🇦
I wish TOS has kept the jackets used on Talos 4 in the first pilot episode.
In RPG terms:
Blue=INT
Yellow=WIS
Red=CHR
So accurate 🤣
Bajoran prov.gov uniform: FTH
Sooo good
I've never been good at picking favorites but if i had to choose, itd have to be the Voyager uniforms or the first contact uniforms.
If Troi is in charge your eff'ed 😅
Better off than O'Brien.
Name one human gold shirt under him who lived to see the end of DS9
@@tyrant-den884 😅😅
Can agree on preferences towards TNG S3 and onwards uniforms with later DS9 uniforms, but I also loved Lower Decks ones from the start, probably because of my love of contrast, heh.
The loss of assignment patches was a huge one.
I really like the themes you pick!
I just wish you'd touched on the mess that future Daniels wears in Enterprise.
Great video! Can't wait to see more :D
Woah, everyone picking red! I assumed all us nerds would be choosing blue like me!!! 😉. My current job is a yellow but my heart says blue.
Awesome work. Im new to the Trek CZcams space, and had heard of your videos from another channel. Quality video, both content and editing wizardry. I look forward to more of your content!
Thank you!
Lower Decks uniforms look amazing in live action
TOS is the best all round for me. The rest are costume designers trying to hard to out do each other. In cannon, the day they went from gold to red for command must of been a confusing day🤔🤣
I prefer the TOS S2-3 by far here. Delightfully simplistic and arm bands look awesome
Motion picture era Monster Maroon. I will never change my mind.
As far as the new Star Trek, I enjoy the strange new worlds and season two two season 3 Star Trek Picard uniforms. My all-time favorite classics will always be the monster Maroons from the movies and Deep Space Nine and first Contact movie costumes
Alright, my buddy and I go on about this all the time. Weirdly it's probably so easy for stargleet to change uniform protocols. "Huh... They sent out a fleet wide alert... We're all wearing gray with little bits of color. The design is available in the replicator."
Rear Admiral Lower Half? I recall exactly zero references to this rank, but several to the equivalent, Commodore.
Ketchup, Mustard, Buleberry, Broccoli.
I like the theory that the uniforms change so much so that time travellers from future eras can roughly identify when they are based on what starfleet officers are wearing.
I’ve always been curious about how I’d actually fit in.
I used to be a humanities teacher. Would that be blue or red? Academics mostly seem to be blue, but humanities are more linked to diplomacy and anthropology, which make me think of command.
More recently, I’ve migrated to tech writing, which means I support the folks in yellow, but I’m not sure if I’d really be gold myself as the guy who writes reports on their behalf.
Later season DS9 is my favorite design.
You forgot to mention the Protostar uniform. Prodigy creators Kevin and Ben Hageman said that since the Protostar is an experimental starship, they felt it gave them some freedom to create their own uniform design, as long as it fit alongside the uniforms of the era. They, along with executive producer Ben Hibon and the design team spent a lot of time discussing the badge and uniforms and had to balance the style of the series, while also recognizing that the crew are a bunch of kids who aren’t actually anywhere close to being Starfleet Officers, which is why they went for a stripped-down design.
I like the Dominion war variation uniform and the Picard season 3 uniforms I think there's a way to combine them but I did like Riker's Dominion war varient seen in Picard during a flash back scene
The cuff strips are called "Distinction Lace"
I have never seen a 1 pip (or equivalent) admiral rank in any ST series. They have always been Commodores. Rear Admiral was always the 2 pip rank AFAIK.
Tylor, Star Fleet uses the rank Commodore, not the Rear Admiral (lower half(
Dude keep up the work TyGuy. I’m a fan I very much look forward to your new critiques brother
I’ll take Command for JAG, mostly because somebody has to do it
My favorite uniforms are the Strange New World uniforms and the Star Trek Picard season 3 uniforms. They look like updated uniforms of the TOS and TNG era respectively, just like the SNW Enterprise looks like an updated form of the TOS Enterprise.
Lost Era are really nice. Be cool to see a modern take on those!
I like the TOS mini skirt variant.
I LOVE THIS!
The TNG film / Dominion War grey and black uniforms are my favorite and seemed to look better on everyone than their previous version but all the costuming of SNW is a serious threat to take that number one spot
my favorite of the uniforms available would be the late ds9/tng movie style, but ive also got a variation on that i use for sto that i like even better, using the odessy cadet pants with a devision color stripe down the out side of the legs. if i could add a stripe at the separation of shoulder and torso sections and rank depicting devision color sleeve stripes to that id love it.
i have a preference for the Discovery-era Type B. the colours really pop, and the black contrasting the poppy colours look great
In my headcanon replicator technology was developed for the sole reason of giving Starfleet personal a chance to keep up with the constant uniform changes.
The uniforms in pre-Federation Starfleet are the most practical--and the rank insignia made the most sense, which reappears from TNG onward--while The Wrath of Khan through The Undiscovered Country are the most elegant--until I realize that they're designed to peel off like a stripper's clothes. The uniforms that appeared in First Contact and was used in the Dominion War says to the galaxy, "we're here for victory and to stand on the bodies of our defeated enemies, not any of that wussy stuff you thought we were about."
If you've seen age of Sail navy uniforms it's not too much of a difference to those of the TOS movies. Which if you've been in hot weather it's a necessity for the uniform to be easy to get in and out of.
If I had my way the starfleet uniform would be a smart cloth that can go airtight in a vacuum, has both piezo electric fibres and thermo-electic fibres that would pull power from body movement and waste body heat. The cloth would self thermal regulate like 7 of 9s supposedly does, and can be shaped to any standard starfleet uniform pattern alowed by the ship/social setting.
Id wear security red in voyagers time.
I have to say I like both Lowe Decks and the new ones from Picard season 1
Red... but from the 24th Century
It depends am I on Kirk's ship if so definitely not Red. The chance of dying is to high. Red if I am on any other ship not Captained by Kirk.
First Contact uniforms are the GOAT.
In The Motion Picture, the division was indicated by the color of the circle behind the Starfleet Insignia (the delta). The colors were:
White - Command
Orange - Sciences
Light green - Medical
Red - Engineering
Pale Gold - Operations
Silver - Security
For the monster maroons, it was not "white for command, beige for everybody else." The colors were:
White - command
Blue Gray - Science
Yellow Ochre - Engineering
Moss Green - Medical
Security - Dark Green
Special Services - Sky Blue
Trainees and cadets - Scarlet Red
For the original series, the vision was to use the primary colors Red/Blue/Green to take advantage of the new color TVs on the market. Being a low budget show, they could not screen test the uniforms and to their surprise, the film they used made the green uniforms look gold. This is why Kirk's special Captain's tunic is green, not gold.
After seeing this video my favourite uniform is now the Star Trek Enterprise uniform. I was the TOS uniform but nope not now.
I heard GR switched the colors for TNG because he as mad about the "Redshirts" jokes.
My favorite uniform models are the TNG's uniform and the one presented in Star Trek Wrath of Khan (aka. "lost era's uniform).
TNG's uniform model is good one because I think it very well gives this futuristic impression. Lost era's uniform is just very handsome though not at all in line with previous or late uniform models.
I think everyone's favorite uniform ultimately ends up being the one from their favorite show. That being said mine would be SNW because damn I would just love to work in that costume department and they are the best tailored in the second season. I also love the look of LD but haven't seen a good real life translation yet (gotta love the delta on the bottom of the boots).
Love the super gay space communism line.
19:37 yeah, T'Lyn looks great in it.
😂 Honestly, I can't disagree with that either
Monster maroon. Always number 1. After that the grey late DS9/First Contact ones. Number 3 on the list is possibly the Motion Picture.
I hate how much I love this content. Why can't I be productive?!
😂
2373 Uniform is definitely my favorite.
I'd be curious if you did a uniform video for Star Trek Online.
I always preferred the TNG + era uniform designs, especially ones featured in the game Star Trek: away team 1 & 2. (I'm also biased as i Designed my own uniforms for my STO Crew using parts from existing uniforms, which I called the Incursion Uniform)
I like the First Contact uniforms
My favorite uniforms are the TNG film era. A close second is the Monster Maroon TOS Film era uniforms.
My top 3 uniforms are TNG S3, SNW, and late 2270's -2350's.
the movies had a great uniform, i liked that it looked both classic and futuristic
Bro giving off serious Boimler vibes in that uniform. Looks great on you
Edit: am I the only one who absolutely loves the ENT uniform? It reminds me of the suits worn by NASA astronauts or something.
Is there an in-universe explanation of the changes in delta/com-badge styles/designs?
I liked the Lower Decks uniforms, but I actually hated how they looked as life action version. I guess they look fine as cartoons, but in the real life version it looked like they were wearing covers that were supposed to keep them from lifting their arms or something.
My favorite uniforms are actually the Odyssey variants from STO. Not canon, I know, but I still think they looked like a good evolution from the DS9/Voyager uniforms. And they had some nice variants.
What uniform do I want to get in?
Bajoran Militia uniform (2374).
100%
Late DS9 for me.
Just starting to watch and want to compare my perspective on a few things before and after. I've seem a lot of ppl think the teal and blue uniforms are intentionally used to differentiate between sciences and medical personnel. I had read it was not intended that way and the colour difference is due to the dye in the costumes degrading over time. Also newer tvs with higher dynamic range pick up differences in colour that weren't noticible in past decades.
Not necessarily my favourite, but the DS9 ones were the best update of what came before and perfectly suited that series's setting
I actually think that the type b uniforms from the 32nd century are pretty cool. I'm not a big fan of the asymmetrical coat tails but other than that I think they look pretty snappy.
Oh and i would be blue for sciences of course.
Personally i think Voyager uniforms are my favourite. I can imagen a tactical teams changing colour jackets for something all grey to hide divisions
I'm just wondering why uniforms are changed so often. The purpose of a uniform is recognisability and constant changes remove that. I'm just glad Voyager kept the same uniforms (apart from the later parts set in the alpha quadrant). They have a simple yet recognisable look
I never payed attention to the uniforms that much until I played STO years ago
I have always thought dax should have been in red
I’d be engineering yellow
The TOS movies post ST TMP were my favorite. Very realistic and they looked sharp. Is this video intended for the visually impaired? Do we really need you to describe what we're seeing in that much detail? "6 vertical stripes on the sleeve and 4 on the trousers." Is anyone taking notes on this? Lol. It's just a bit of fun. Relax a bit.
STTMP had division colours behind the chest insignia
Just adding that.
Cool, so now do dress uniforms please.
I like the Voyager type uniforms the most
Can we have a salute for the chad in the skirt at the beginning of TNG?
DS9's uniform is the peak for me personally.
I lke the DS9 uniforms best. And I dislike the 2270-2350 uniforms, the clasps at the right shoulder really look like a workaround for somebody who forgot the closing mechanism 😉.
Correction: The delta insignia was not adopted for all of Starfleet by the 2270s. It had always been the starfleet emblem, and used on starships other than Enterprise - YES, even during TOS. It is a common misconception that all ships had different symbols - even though you THINK you saw that with your own eyes. There are explanations for all of these examples, which are either due to them being for space stations, civilians, sector commands, etc. The only one that does not have such an explanation was a mistake, and there is a memo from Roddenberry to the staff complaining about it.
Alright, hardnut.