On the Colours of Military Uniforms
The following section, in which are described the advantages of contrast with regard to the heightening and purifying of the colour of cloths for dress, properly belongs to the chapters on clothing, pp. 165, &c. But, as in the present day, the colours of men’s ordinary dress are not usually very various or strongly contrasted, this portion of the work has a more special application to military uniforms; the choice of colours being regulated by the principles laid down and exemplified throughout the work.
And, independently of economical considerations, the selection and arrangement of colours for military uniforms demand investigation as to the prominence or obscurity resulting from their combination, as well as to their æsthetical effect.
Of Uniforms composed of Complementary Colours.
By the law of contrast, red and green of similar tone in the same uniform, will heighten each other. Let us suppose the augmentation of colour by juxtaposition to equal one-tenth, its optical effect may be stated as 1¹/₁₀. If a single coloured uniform, by one year’s wear lose one-tenth of its colour, it is clear that the uniform of the above two colours after being worn the same time will be as effective as the single colour was originally.
Similar reasoning may be applied to all colours that are complementary, as orange and blue, violet and greenish yellow, &c.; it is necessary however to take into consideration their difference of tone.
Among colours which are not complementary, but which produce an agreeable contrast, may be mentioned particularly blue and yellow, blue and scarlet, green and yellow.
Blue and Yellow.—These two colours harmonize well, the blue imparting to the yellow an orange tint so much the deeper as the tone of the blue is raised, while the yellow communicates to the blue a beautiful tint of violet, or if the blue have any unpleasant greenish tint the yellow will neutralize it. If, however, there be a great difference in the tone of the two colours, contrast arising from this difference might destroy the effect of the contrast of colours; so that a deep blue might appear black or less violet, while the yellow, being enfeebled, might seem greenish.
Blue and Scarlet.—Deep blue and scarlet make a beautiful assortment, the blue giving fire to the scarlet; the latter rendering the blue more pure. There is no doubt that for effect a clearer blue and a fresh orange would be preferable, if there be no white in the uniform.
Green and Yellow.—This combination pleases by its gaiety, which suits cavalry of the line. But the green should be yellower and clearer than that which associates well with red; for the twofold reason that the yellow, by neutralizing a portion of the yellow in the green, raises the colour of the blue, and consequently lessens the brilliancy of the green. Besides, this effect tends constantly to increase, as the yellow of the green fades sooner than its blue. On the other hand, the yellow cloth receiving red from the green, must not be taken too deep. This case furnishes a good example of the economical advantage of contrasts of colour generally; and it will be seen that good arrangements are so much more difficult to make, as we depart from the contrast of complementary colour.
Of a single Colour and White.
We must refer to our preceding observations with respect to the juxtaposition of white with colours (178) to reason upon these combinations in uniforms. Colours are heightened, their complementaries are added to the white, and effects are produced which are so much the more perceptible as the colours are less raised in tone. If the white is rusty the juxtaposition of blue will heighten its tint; violet placed beside it will clear it, rendering it yellow; green will increase its redness; yellow, and especially orange yellow, will enfeeble it.
A white uniform has a good effect, not only when white pantaloons are worn with a white coat, or with facings, collar, &c. of white to a light coloured coat; but it has a good effect also with light trousers; for instance, light blue and white coat, or collar and facings. White trousers also do well with a uni-coloured coat.
Bi-coloured Uniforms with White.
White produces a really good effect only with blue and orange, or blue and red, being much inferior with green and yellow, or blue and yellow. It is, however, very suitable for trousers, with any combination of two agreeable colours in the coat. Nothing more clearly demonstrates the advantage of blue or red with white, than the difference between a uniform of deep red and blue without white, and the same with white facings and buff-skin belt, &c.
Bi-coloured Uniforms with Black.
Black enters advantageously into the composition of many uniforms of two luminous colours, such as scarlet, orange, yellow, or bright green. A scarlet coat with facings of greenish, rather than orange, yellow, is perfectly adapted to black trousers. And black trousers may be associated with sombre colours in the other parts of the dress for a uniform which is not to be conspicuous or seen far off.
Uniform of more than two Colours,
not comprising Black and White.
Although three colours may be combined without producing a bad effect, yet I give the preference to a bi-coloured dress with a mixture of black and white. And I may remark here that if the sight of several colours be more agreeable than of one only, there are disadvantages in the union of many colours, especially if the colours are scattered on different objects, or several parts of the same object.
Uniform of several Shades of the same Colour.
Strictly speaking, it is possible to make an agreeable arrangement of colours belonging to the same or neighbouring scales; yet the difficulty of doing this, and the chances of success where there is a contrast of colour, determine me to reject the former, at least whenever brilliant colours are employed; but for sombre-coloured arrangements they may be employed. In proof of this, I will mention the bad effect of those French uniforms, in which there is a juxtaposition of madder and of cochineal reds.
Uniforms of two Tones of the same Scale.
This arrangement is not successful, for the lighter loses its colour, and if the deep tone acquire it, it is scarcely ever advantageous.3 We will not therefore dwell upon it.
Of a Mono-coloured Uniform.
If uniforms of contrasted colours are advantageous in an economical point of view, if light coloured uniforms present advantages when it is desirable to exhibit to the enemy the numbers who oppose him, there are many cases in which the object is rather to conceal and dissimulate their presence, than to display them. Well, for such purposes, or if there is to be established a sort of hierarchy among the various corps, by means of dress, we may have recourse to a single and sombre-coloured uniform.
The Influence of Superficial Extent upon Combinations
of Colours in Polychromous Uniforms.
I have already several times had occasion to speak of the influence of extent in the proportions of colours even when well associated, I must now add that it is not enough merely to make a satisfactory combination, but that to produce the best results from colours, they must be employed in suitable respective proportions.
When a colour is in feeble proportion to another, it must be spread as equally as possible throughout the garment; as, for example, in the uniform of the artillery, blue and scarlet; the latter, although far less in superficial proportion, produces a very good effect, because it is distributed throughout the uniform.
In a polychromous uniform, where one colour is found in several garments, we must avoid confounding the colour with the superposed or contiguous parts, so as to make one portion seem to belong to another. For example, the French regiments wear red trousers, with a blue coat turned up with the same red as the trousers. What happens? At a certain distance the one seems a part of the other, and the blue coat-tails seem far too narrow. It would be easy to remedy this defect by putting blue with red braid for the portions of the coat turned up.
From the above, I admit the two following principles:—1. Whenever the coat and trousers are of the same colour, and there is a second colour put upon the coat in feeble proportion, it must be repeated on the trousers, in a broad band, if the soldier wear boots, or in a braid, if he wear shoes. 2. Whenever the trousers are not of the colour which forms the basis of the coat, but of facings or distinctive parts, a band or simple braid of the main colour of the coat will restore to the trousers their distinctness.
These remarks show how desirable it is that the choice of colours, and especially of those which are distinctive of regiments or corps, should be the result of rules, established by their adaptation to the duties to be rendered by the regiments wearing them.
Footnotes
1 In the original French Edition there is evidently a confusion of terms in this and the two following articles (39, 40, 41, 42). The Red is there represented as placed in juxtaposition with red, and green with green, and so on with the other instances; orange and blue; orange-yellow and indigo; greenish-yellow and violet; instead of being made by contrast with their respective complementaries to intensify each other.
2 Hence the pleasure of reading books printed on the modern toned paper. De Morgan advises that tables of logarithms, and the like, should be printed on pale brown paper.
3 It must be remembered that Chevreul speaks here of colours exclusively as to their optical effect, and that the very objection which he states to such an arrangement of colours, would be one of its best recommendations to the advocates of an obscure, in preference to a conspicuous uniform, as for Rifle Corps.
Deprecated spellings or ancient words were not corrected.
The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate.
Typographical and punctuation errors have been silently corrected.