Star Trek: The Next Generation uniform color scheme

[Dumarest]

I've watched more than a few episodes now and I cannot figure out the color scheme of Star Fleet uniforms.

On the original series it was clear after the first couple of episodes when they added red to the palette: gold*/green = command, blue = science/medicine, red = ship services/security.

On The Next Generation the engineer wore red, then changed to mustard. Data, the science officer, also wears mustard. The head of security wore mustard, then got killed. Worf was also in security wearing red, then took over the department and changed to mustard. The counselor seems to wear whatever the hell she wants but wore blue in the pilot. The captain and X.O. both wear red. The doctor wears blue. Is there some pattern to this? It seems haphazard.

* Fun fact: the command color was never actually gold, it only looked that way due to the lighting that was used. In actuality, all the command shirts were an avocado green. Captain Kirk's green wraparound shirt was actually the same color as the regular shirt but was made from a different material that still looked green on camera under the set lights.

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[Gabriel]

Red is command/ops. Worf is Ops in the first season. So is Geordi. That's why they originally wear red.

Mustard is security/engineering. That's why Tasha wears that color and why Worf changes to that color in the second season. Geordi also shifts to that color in the second season after taking the chief engineer position.

On the one occasion I'm aware of where we see the previous chief engineer of the Enterprise, she's wearing a Mustard uniform.

Why does Data wear the yellow uniform? There doesn't seem to be a firm foundation for an in-universe reason. Oddly the only time I can recall him being in what I'd consider the "correct" red uniform was when he was being portrayed by an imposter.

Blue is still science/medical. Troi wears blue when she wears a starfleet uniform because Counselor seems to be grouped under psychologist.

 

[Justin Alexander]

Red = Command

Blue = Science/Medical

Gold = Operations (Security, Engineering, Support Services)

Data wears gold because he's the Operations officer for the ship. He changes to a red uniform in "Chains of Command" when he becomes first officer.

Geordi and Worf wear red in the first season because they're conn officers, which fall under the command division. As Gabriel notes, they then get promoted out to Chief of Security and Chief of Engineering and change into gold.

Basically the red and gold colors swapped from TOS to TNG. That's it.

 

[TristramEvans]

Probably because after the original series, they had a ton of yellow and gold fabric left over, but red was getting rare...

 

[Ghost Whistler]

Red = science
Gold = science
Blue = science

 

[Stevethulhu]

Red = Command

Blue = Science/Medical

Gold = Operations (Security, Engineering, Support Services)

Data wears gold because he's the Operations officer for the ship. He changes to a red uniform in "Chains of Command" when he becomes first officer.

Geordi and Worf wear red in the first season because they're conn officers, which fall under the command division. As Gabriel notes, they then get promoted out to Chief of Security and Chief of Engineering and change into gold.

Basically the red and gold colors swapped from TOS to TNG. That's it.

All that stuff is, iirc, in the TNG Technical Manual. A book of technobabble, bafflegab and utter nonsense. But a great read anyway.

 

[Chris Brady]

All that stuff is, iirc, in the TNG Technical Manual. A book of technobabble, bafflegab and utter nonsense. But a great read anyway.

It is. but it's what they used for the show.

 

[Stevethulhu]

It is. but it's what they used for the show.

Yeah, it was a part of the show bible. And even had the exact sequence of events for the emergency saucer separation and landing from Generations.

 

[Dumarest]

All that stuff is, iirc, in the TNG Technical Manual. A book of technobabble, bafflegab and utter nonsense. But a great read anyway.

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