Meaning of uniform color in Star Trek Voyager

Question

I was always wondering whether the color of the uniform has still a meaning in Star Trek Voyager.

I used to believe this:

• Red: Commanders
• Yellow: Security and Engineers
• Teal: Medicine and Science

However, this seems either not to be true or there are too many badly directed episodes.

For instance in Course: Oblivion you can see at least 4 people (except Janeway and Chakotay) wearing red uniforms. (Also in Someone to watch over me, Equinox, Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy...)

If all people (and they appear a lot) wearing teal uniforms are scientist why are none of them better suited to help the Doctor than Paris? And why is Paris wearing a red uniform? And Harry Kim is some kind of science officer - so why is he wearing yellow?

In the episode Relativity Seven is wearing a teal uniform and is working on the bridge where Janeway meets her. Then, she is working in a machine room where she is asked by Carey what she is doing. She responds that she is recalibrating some relays. Both, Janeway and Carey, are not surprised that a scientist is doing engineering work.

Answer 1

TL;DR: Uniform color in Star Trek indicates a person's primary role, but not necessarily their entire skillset. Many officers can fill alternate roles, despite what color they're wearing.

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The uniforms typically seen in Star Trek: Voyager are the Standard Duty Uniform style that was introduced in 2369 - nearly two years before Voyager found itself stranded in the Delta Quadrant.

As with other TNG-era uniforms, there are three division colors used on the uniforms:

• Red/Maroon - this denotes the COMMAND division. Examples are anyone on the command track, including helmsmen, administrators, and commanding officers.
• Yellow/Gold - this denotes the OPERATIONS division. Examples are anyone responsible for the daily operation of a starship or base, including engineers, security officers, tactical officers, and non-Engineering support personnel.
• Blue/Teal - this denotes the SCIENCES division. Examples are scientists/researchers, medical staff, and non-Operations technical specialists.

Although the SDU seen in Voyager was retired in 2371, the crew of Voyager continued to wear it throughout the entire run of the show. This was due to their isolation from Starfleet. Note that the SDU style used the same colors seen on the 2-piece style from TNG, but the color/black combination was inverted to show minimal color on the shoulders. The color was further minimized in the Dominion War-era jumpsuit style that followed the SDU (introduced in Star Trek: First Contact and seen in seasons 5-7 of DS9).

Note: The Sciences blue color is normally a deep sapphire blue, but the teal variation can appear green to some viewers.

Dual Roles/Associations:

In several cases, the uniform color worn by an individual may not represent the full extent of their duties. In fact, the color of uniform merely indicates which division the person is assigned to AS PER THEIR PRIMARY ROLE. For example, a computer technician or warp specialist could easily be assigned to the Sciences division, yet often work in Engineering. They wear blue because their primary role belongs to the Sciences Division, regardless of what they actually do on the ship.

In a unique case like Voyager's where there is limited crew, it becomes doubly important for each person to wear multiple hats. Tom Paris, for instance, is officially the ship's helmsman (thus wearing a red uniform), but is also considered an expert in the subjects of aerodynamics & warp field theory. Kathryn Janeway is another good example - she wears red because of her role as Captain, yet the majority of her experience is that of a physicist and scientist. In fact, prior to becoming XO of the USS Billings, she was the ship's Science Officer.

Alternate Associations:

Note that the colors for Command & Operations were reversed in the Original Series - uniforms from that era also included an alternate Captain's Tunic variant which DID appear to be a light green (avocado) color with gold piping on the sleeves:

In addition, there have been cases (such as alternate timelines) where a character wears a color other than that normally associated with them. This most notably occurred in Parallels, where Worf is seen wearing red and gold across all realities, and Tapestry, where Picard is seen wearing Sciences blue. Another example of this would be any time that Voyager's Doctor activates his ECH subroutines, during which his normal blue uniform transforms to a red command uniform instead.

Color Inconsistency (Blue vs. Green):

Lastly, when discussing the difference in TNG-era costumes, it's important to note that the actual shades used in the uniforms on-screen are inconsistent. Although Sciences blue is generally depicted as a deep blue, it is also sometimes seen as more of a teal color. The image below compares the two side-by-side. This is most likely due to minor differences in the fabric/dye used for the costume, but individuals with blue-yellow tritanopia may have difficulty with the two different shades of blue. It doesn't help that darker lighting in certain scenes can make the teal version appear greener than it actually is.

Answer 2

Harry Kim's assignment aboard Voyager is "Operations Officer" according to startrek.com, which gives him both the gold Operations-branch uniform and the right to be on the bridge. This is the same post held by Lt. Cdr. Data aboard the Enterprise-D, who also wore Operations gold.

Answer 3

While the answers already provided cover the colour schemes for uniforms used in Star Trek, they don't really address your deeper questions.

If all people (and they appear a lot) wearing teal uniforms are scientist why are none of them better suited to help the Doctor than Paris?

It's established that Paris has emergency medical training prior to embarking on Voyager. Would an astrophysicist be better? Granted, we do eventually see some life sciences officers through the series (particularly xenobiologist Ensign Wildman) - but being able to identify a Klingon spleen still doesn't necessarily mean you can splint a broken leg.

And why is Paris wearing a red uniform? And Harry Kim is some kind of science officer - so why is he wearing yellow?

Paris' primary role on the ship is Helmsman/Pilot - this is established in almost all other canon post-TNG as "red".

Harry Kim's primary role appears to be Operations officer - again, this is established as "yellow". The best example is Lt Cdr Data - who is second officer and Operations officer of the Enterprise. When he is given an (apparently) permanent promotion to First Officer (under Jellico), Data gets a redshirt as his primary role is command not Ops.

For instance in Course: Oblivion you can see at least 4 people (except Janeway and Chakotay) wearing red uniforms. (Also in Someone to watch over me, Equinox, Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy...)

Looking at other Star Trek series (TNG and DS9) - we see quite a few low rank redshirts - so it wouldn't be unusual even with a small complement like Voyager's to have a few low ranking reds around.

In the episode Relativity Seven is wearing a teal uniform and is working on the bridge where Janeway meets her. Then, she is working in a machine room where she is asked by Carey what she is doing. She responds that she is recalibrating some relays. Both, Janeway and Carey, are not surprised that a scientist is doing engineering work.

Cross-skilling?

Answer 4

You're not wrong on any of these counts, except for an assumption that redshirts are top commanders. It's broader than that. I agree that Seven running around in a Science uniform doing Engineering-type things was a bit odd, and it's also a little odd that there were no more qualified medics in the sciences division than Tom Paris. Still, we're to believe that the entire medical staff were killed in the pilot, so it may not be that much of a stretch.

Answer 5

From what we see on screen, it's a matter of primary assignment.

Yellow is assigned to security and engineering. Kim is in this one because he often coordinates repair people, which seems to be half the job of the ops person.

Blue and Teal go to Science and Medical, though it's probable that they're actually the same color, and the ship's lighting and excessive usage of grey reflective surfaces tints the color a little. I think 7 of 9 had this color in her "Human Error" fantasy because, in her mind, her main job is in astrometrics, which is a scientific department.

Red seems to be "well, you ain't science, medical, security, or engineering; so welcome the color of miscellaneous!" On the rare occasions we saw a backup pilot in that era, they usually wore red, as did Paris, Voyager's main pilot. Being upper management and/or pilots doesn't really fall into the other colors, so naturally they fell into red.

Answer 6

Omegacron's answer is pretty much correct, but a military friend of mine suggested a different wording that incorporates conventional military distinctions:

• Red (in TNG and Voyager) is worn by commissioned officers, who are evaluated primarily on their leadership skills.
• Yellow is worn by warrant officers, who are evaluated primarily on their technical expertise.
• Blue/green is worn by science officers, which (to my understanding) is not a distinction in any existing military. Presumably this is intended to reflect Rodenberry's vision of the increasing role that science would play in shaping decisions on every level in society, and to help emphasize the Star Fleet is primarily an organization of research and exploration, not just a military.

While in the US military only commissioned officers have ranks (above Sergeant or Petty Officer) it appears that all officers in Star Fleet can have ranks regardless of their role. That suggests that the while ranks do still reflect leadership responsibilities, they do not have any bearings on the technical or scientific responsibilities carried by that individual. Those additional responsibilities are denoted by specific roles (Chief Engineer, Chief Medical Officer, etc.). That is why anyone from an Ensign to a Lt. Commander can be the Operations Officer.

The only exception might be that any officer who acts as a leader within a technical or scientific discipline will need to be the same rank or higher as their subordinate officers. For example, Lt. Torres (B'ellana), as Chief Engineer, has at least one other Lieutenant working under her, but no one of higher rank. I would wager that, aside from the "Chief" roles, rank has relatively little bearing on how warrant and science officers interact. They are much more likely to delegate to expertise or drive consensus through debate. Only when absolutely necessary would they delegate to authority.

Answer 7

You're mostly correct with the colour scheme :

As of TNG and onward - Red is mostly used for Command/Tactical, Yellow is used for Security, Engineering etc. Blue is used for Science and Medicine.

The other people you saw wearing red uniforms are likely part of "Tactical" aboard the ship they're designated to. If you watch episodes of TNG as well you can often see people walking around the Enterprise in red uniforms, this doesn't mean there are several Captains and Commanders aboard the Enterprise, it just means that these people are also part of tactical.

So to answer your questions about Harry and Paris, Paris would be considered part of the tactical team aboard Voyager and Harry was part of operations, which would fall into the Engineering category.

Answer 8

I know this is an old thread, but I feel compelled to reply because I get so tired of red being referred to as the "command" color. That isn't correct.

There is no such thing as a "command track." Starfleet ranks were based on naval ranks. In the navy there are several different types of individuals who perform any number of functions on the ship. In this case, red would be what a line officer, or officer of the line, would be. Just because you're wearing red doesn't mean you are on track to become a captain. It simply means you are a line officer. Officers who have a special function wear the gold "operations" or blue "science" color where appropriate. Just like in the navy, officers rank is denoted by a series of gold stripes on the cuff, or gold stripes on a shoulderboard. Line officers wear a star above the gold stripes, and "operations" officers wear a distinctive insignia above their gold stripes, showing they are engineers, doctors, chaplains, supply officers, lawyers, or something else.

Answer 9

I agree, red is for command positions, yellow for engineering/tactical/security, blue for science and research. Also i find that a lot of the crewmen wear blue, but that might just be a filming thing as contrast because the leads generally wear red or yellow. I was just thinking though, everyone is saying Tom Paris is in red because he's the helmsman, but he was initially recruited as an observer and wore red. It's not really a command role, but it's also not an engineering role, but might be considered a research role, so should it not be blue at least initially?