khaki

Khaki is a loanword from Urdu خاکی 'soil-colored', which in turn comes from Persian خاک {{IPA|fa|χɒːk|}} khāk 'soil' + {{lang|fa|ی}} (adjectival attributive suffix); it came into English via the British Indian Army.[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Khaki Dictionary Meaning: Khaki]; TheFreeDictionary; Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedia{{Cite book|title=The Secret Lives of Colour|last=St. Clair|first=Kassia|publisher=John Murray|year=2016|isbn=9781473630819|location=London|pages=240–241|oclc=936144129}}

File:Corps of Guides (Infantry & Cavalry) - Richard Simkin.jpg (Infantry & Cavalry) by Richard Simkin]]

Khaki was first worn as a uniform in the Corps of Guides that was raised in December 1846 by Henry Lawrence (1806–1857), agent to the Governor-General for the North-West Frontier and stationed in Lahore. Initially the border troops were dressed in their native costume, which consisted of a smock and white pajama trousers made of a coarse home-spun cotton, and a cotton turban, supplemented by a leather or padded cotton jacket for cold weather. In 1848, a khaki uniform was introduced."Khaki Uniform 1848–49: First Introduction by Lumsden and Hodson", Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 82 (Winter 2004) pp 341–347 Subsequently, all regiments serving in the region, whether British or Indian, had adopted khaki uniforms for active service and summer dress. The original khaki fabric was a closely twilled cloth of linen or cotton. For example, European artillery regiments serving in Madras Presidency discontinued white summer clothing and adopted khakee (sic), on 26 June 1858.{{cite book|first=W.(William) Y.|last=Carman|title=Indian Army Uniforms under the British from the 18th Century to 1947: Artillery, Engineers and Infantry.|date=1969|publisher=Morgan-Grampian|location=London|page=26}}

File:Bob Work with General Raheel Sharif and Major General Aamer Riaz.jpg

The impracticality of traditional bright colors such as the red coat, especially for skirmishing, was recognised early in the 19th century.{{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=Cynric R.|title=Hamel, the Obeah man|date=1827|publisher=Hunt and Clarke|location=London|page=279|edition=1st|url=https://archive.org/stream/hamelobeahman00hamegoog#page/n624/mode/2up|access-date=3 February 2016}}"...A red-coat on one of these rocks will only be a mark for these rebels."{{cite journal|title=The Army|journal=Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine|volume=60|issue=370|page=144}} "...scarlet is unmilitary, first, because it is tawdry ; and secondly, as rendering the soldier, when isolated, an easier mark than a less glaring colour." (1846) A response to improved technologies such as aerial surveillance and smokeless powder, khaki could camouflage soldiers in the field of battle.{{cite book|last=Tynan|first=Jane|title=British Army Uniform and the First World War: Men in Khaki|year=2013|publisher=Palgrave MacMillan|location=London}}

Khaki-colored uniforms were used officially by British troops for the first time during the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia, when Indian troops traveled to Ethiopia.Byron Farwell, Armies of the Raj, 1989, page 75. Subsequently, the British Army adopted khaki for colonial campaign dress and it was used in the Mahdist War (1884–89) and Second Boer War (1899–1902). These uniforms became known as khaki drill, versions of which are still part of the uniforms of the British Army.

During the Second Boer War, the British forces became known as Khakis because of their uniforms.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} After victory in the war, the government called an election, which became known as the khaki election, a term used subsequently for elections called to exploit public approval of governments immediately after military victories.

The United States Army adopted khaki during the Spanish–American War (1898), replacing their traditional blue field uniforms. The United States Navy and United States Marine Corps followed suit, authorizing khaki field and work uniforms.

File:Jacket (AM 740117-1).jpg

When khaki was adopted for the continental British Service Dress in 1902, the shade chosen had a clearly darker and more green hue (see photo). This color was adopted with minor variations by all the British Empire armies. The 1902 US Army uniform regulations also adopted a similar shade for soldiers' winter service uniforms under the name olive drab. This shade of brown-green remained in use by many countries throughout the two World Wars.

Following World War II, military-issue khaki-colored chino cloth twill trousers became a common part of civilian clothing. Today, the term khakis is sometimes used to refer to the style of trousers, properly called chinos, regardless of their color.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

{{infobox color

| title=Light Khaki

| hex=F0E68C

| source=X11{{cite web|url=http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-color/#html4|title=CSS Color Module Level 3|first1=Tantek|last1=Çelik|first2=Chris|last2=Lilley|first3=L. David|last3=Baron|last4=W3C|first5=L. David|last5=Baron|date=19 June 2018|website=www.w3.org|access-date=22 October 2018}}

|isccname=Light greenish yellow}}

Adjacent is displayed the color light khaki (also called khaki tan or just tan).

This is the web color called khaki in HTML/CSS.

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{{infobox color

| title=Khaki (A Dictionary of Color)

| hex=C3B091

| source=

| isccname=Grayish yellow

}}

The color shown adjacent matches the color designated as khaki in the 1930 book A Dictionary of Color, the standard for color nomenclature before the introduction of computers. It corresponds to RAL 1001 Beige in the RAL colour standard.

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{{infobox color

| title=Dark Khaki

| hex=BDB76B

| source=X11

| isccname=Moderate greenish yellow

}}

Adjacent is displayed the web color dark khaki.[http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-color/ CSS3 Color Module], retrieved 2010-09-12 It corresponds to Dark Khaki in the X11 color names and to RAL 7008 Khaki Gray in the RAL colour standard.

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{{infobox color

| title=Khaki green

| hex=728639

| source=[http://hex.wikimix.info/en/color-728639 wikimix]

| isccname=Pale olive brown}}

Adjacent is displayed the color khaki green, sometimes called simply khaki in Commonwealth countries. It corresponds to RAL 6003 Olive Green in the RAL colour standard. It is more commonly called olive green or olive drab.

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• Feldgrau
• Khaki University

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Wiktionary-inline|khaki}}
• {{Commons cat-inline|Khaki|lcfirst=yes}}

{{Shades of brown}}

{{Shades of yellow}}

Category:Shades of brown

Category:Shades of green

Category:Shades of yellow