Define "Khaki"

Hi, sorry I've been away for a while! It's good to be back.

OK, model question this (sort of). I've just taken delivery of the HAT 1/72nd scale WW1 British Infantry (at last!!!). I've got a book (Great Battles of World War One) which has a great colour drawing of a BEF infantryman, and describes his uniform as "Khaki". I had this problem with an earlier Camel- and someone suggested that because of PC10 camels were a sort of green/brown colour. Anyway, in that instance I panted the kit in Olive drab and gave the whole thing a brown "wash". It did the trick and looks great- but I'm rambling. My question is- is the BEF uniform green or brown or a mix of both???

Thanks

James

I have a British Army Sergeants tunic/cap before me dated 1915 - known to have been worn at Gallipoli, France & Mespot - the colour is a medium brown - I know they varied slightly due to different manufacturers but that is your average colour of what is loosely described as khaki. Hope that is some help.

Regards, jermedal.

James,
Khaki was originally invented by the British troops that were stationed in India. They found that when they washed their white uniforms in muddy water, the uniforms came out a tan color and allowed them to blend with the landscape a little better. Eventually there was a khaki color dye made, and the rest is history. Khaki color as I've ever known it to be is a light tan color. CPO's and officers in the U.S. Navy wear khaki color uniforms as normal uniform wear. I hope that this helps you to decide what you do have.
VBR,
Jim

[mike_baram]

I'm with Jim on this. Khaki is a light tan, but depending on the manufacturer and the materials used in the dye the color can vary from greyish tan to tannish grey, with a wide range in between.
The khaki of the U.S. Navy uniform is very different from the khaki of, say, the field uniform of the Egyptian army.
BTW, "khaki" means "mud" in Hindi.

This is one of those questions with a different answer depending on which Atlantic shore you stand. Insofar as the question relates to British uniforms then the mid-brown already mentioned is correct. It is still the standard colour for British Army walking out uniforms.

Billy H reports: The DK Oxford Illustrated Dictionary defines, on page 443, the word khaki: "dust colored; dull brownish yellow 1. a khaki fabric of twilled cotton or wool, used esp in military dress. 2. the dull brownish-yellow of this."
I believe this is an Arab or Egyption word as the British had fabric mills in Egypt and the locals gave it its name, in much the same way that demins was a corruption of the French word "cord de Nimes" a blue fabric originally made by the French. The khakis we were issued in the Army were a light tan in the style that the English troops in the Middle East wore.
Is it possible that olive drab is the tag you want for this plane fabric?
Let me know your sentiments on this. Billy H/10/08/99.

Billy H reports: The DK Oxford Illustrated Dictionary defines, on page 443, the word khaki: "dust colored; dull brownish yellow 1. a khaki fabric of twilled cotton or wool, used esp in military dress. 2. the dull brownish-yellow of this."
I believe this is an Arab or Egyption word as the British had fabric mills in Egypt and the locals gave it its name, in much the same way that demins was a corruption of the French word "cord de Nimes" a blue fabric originally made by the French. The khakis we were issued in the Army were a light tan in the style that the English troops in the Middle East wore.
Is it possible that olive drab is the tag you want for this plane fabric?
Let me know your sentiments on this. Billy H/10/08/99.

Trust me on this one. Whatever it's origins or dictionary definition. in British service Khaki is the mid-brown already discussed. The lighter colour is still generaly referred to as Khaki Drill abreviated to KD. Been there, done that, bought the tee-shirt.

James-
Are you looking for the color of the wool uniform (SD-Service Dress) used in France or the cotton uniform (KD-Khaki Drill) used in the Far Eastern climates such as Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, etc.? Both are called khaki in color but the wool uniform was a greenish brown color, just like the US uniform of the period. You might E-mail Dean of Greatwar Militaria at "greatwar@innernet.net" and ask for a swatch of the material they use to make their repo British SD uniforms. I have a sample swatch and it is right on with the WW1 British tunic in my collection.
There is a problem verifying the original color on cotton drill uniforms in that the colors used back then weren't 'fast" like today's colors and after just a few washings turned a much, much lighter shade. Most used US WW1 cotton uniforms seen today are a very, very light tan but I have a couple of unissued ones that show the original color to be the same green/brown of the wool uniform (standard color referred to as "khahi"). I don't know if the cotton British uniform is the same or not. Most wool uniforms, Brit and US, seem to be of a pretty much the same color(just slight shade variations), but this isn't universal because I've seen some WW1 uniforms that are almost a mustard in color! If, as I suspect, you are wanting the color of the wool (France) uniform then get the swatch I mentioned and anything close to that would be correct.

Steve

Thanks a lot for your answers. The reason for my initial confusion is the superb watercolour art in the book, which depicts the various battles covered. The artist seems to be extremely accurate, but as I say I was confused because he seems to have painted all of the Britsh Infantry uniforms- throughout the book- in a green colour. The colour he used for the BEF Infantryman painting is one of those "is it green or is it brown" type colours. Maybe I'll just paint my entire diorama project in shades of black-and white, to add authenticity!!!