A group of officers in Starfleet uniforms in 2265
The Starfleet uniforms worn in the mid 23rd century before 2265 shared similarities with later designs. The main difference of this era was a different set of rank stripes and division colors. (TOS: "The Cage")
This uniform lasted from before 2254 (TOS: "The Cage"), to provisionally at least 2268. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles") It was used by the crews of the USS Enterprise (TOS: "The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before"), the Antares (TOS: "Charlie X"), and Deep Space K-7. (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles") Beginning in 2265, the uniform began to be replaced by a new design. (TOS: "Friday's Child", "Dagger of the Mind")
Duty uniform
Captain Christopher Pike in a duty uniform in 2254
The duty uniform worn consisted of dark gray trousers and a division color top, following the below color code. The previous Earth Starfleet style of wearing a patch based on assignment continued, but the patch was moved to the chest. Rank was displayed by sleeve stripes. (TOS: "The Cage") The top's collar initially had a "bubbled" appearance but many of them came straight up on the neck later on. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before")
Female variant
A female command division officer in a duty uniform in 2254
Women's uniform style had a larger open collar. They also wore black trousers similar to the male uniform. (TOS: "The Cage")
Seam variant
A command division officer in a duty uniform in 2265 (left)
A variant worn by certain personnel included a closing seam radiating from the side of the neck. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before")
Dress jacket
A Starfleet officer in a dress jacket in 2254
There was a dress jacket, edged with gold trim, with matching epaulets. This was most likely a matching shade to the division color, in this case although it looks brown over gold, they were both actually green. Since no other dress uniforms from this period were ever seen it is impossible to know for sure. (TOS: "The Cage")
- See the dress uniform article for more information.
Other uniforms and accessories
Excursion jacket
Excursion jacket in 2254  Utility harness worn underneath jacket in 2254 |
An excursion jacket,in gray, was also part of this issue. A utility harness was worn underneath, and is where the individual's laser and communicator were held. (TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II")
Utility jumpsuit
Work coveralls, with assignment patch embroidered on the breast, were issued in all division related colors. Instead of the brighter colors of the duty uniform, they were in muted colors of olive (Command), khaki (Operations) and blue-gray (Sciences). (TOS: "The Cage")
Hat
A uniform hat in 2254
The uniform could be worn with a uniform hat. (TOS: "The Cage")
Cadet jumpsuit
A Starfleet cadet in 2252
In the mid-23rd century, a Starfleet cadet wore a version of the standard duty uniform, with a tunic top made out of a reflective gray material tunic top, a V-shaped black collar, and black trousers. A Starfleet assignment patch insignia, a ten pointed star, was worn on the left breast. (TOS: "Shore Leave")
Department color codes
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Assignment patches
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| Circa 2254 | Circa 2265 |
Assignment patches were worn on many of the uniform styles, and were individual depending on a serviceperson's posting. A departmental insignia of the person's position was located in the center of many of these patches
During this period, it was not uncommon to see department insignia which did not correspond to a specific departmental color uniform, as was standardized by 2266. In particular the following division color/insignia combinations have been seen: command/operations, operations/sciences, sciences/operations and sciences/command. In addition, security personnel circa 2254 wore blue uniforms with a unique insignia. However, by 2265 this insignia was dropped in favor of the current operations insignia.
Examples of rank insignia
| Chief petty officer insignia Chief petty officer (2250s) |
Commissioned officer insignia Commissioned officer (Ensign - Captain) (2250s-2260s) |
Captain insignia Captain (2260s) |
Epaulet
Dress uniform epaulets. (2250s)
In 2254, dress uniforms of high-ranking Starfleet personnel contained a certain epaulet, likely indicative of rank. (TOS: "The Cage")
Appendices
Appearances
- TOS:
- "The Cage"
- "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
- "The Corbomite Maneuver"
- "The Man Trap" (stock footage)
- "Charlie X"
- "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
- "The Menagerie, Part I" (footage from "The Cage")
- "The Menagerie, Part II" (footage from "The Cage")
- "Catspaw" (stock footage)
- "Wolf in the Fold"
- "The Trouble with Tribbles"
- DS9:
- "Trials and Tribble-ations" (stock footage)
Background information
The Starfleet uniforms worn during Star Trek: The Original Series were designed by William Ware Theiss.
Although the standard command division uniform tunics looked gold on most color TV sets, the costumes were actually lime green[2]. The greenish hue of the command tunics can be seen more clearly in the third season, when the fabric used for the tunics was changed from satin velour to a double-knit nylon that reflected the set lighting differently. The dress uniforms, made of a silk material, were always clearly green by comparison, and some darker green jumpsuits and wraparound tunics that were more clearly seen seemed to confirm that all the "gold-to-green" variations were part of the same color scheme. The so-called "beige" uniforms which originated with "The Cage" were ironically a much more yellow color, but likewise appeared beige or pinkish under the lights.
While this uniform was in use only for the two Star Trek pilots, it would be seen again on the Antares crew in "Charlie X" and on background performers in "The Corbomite Maneuver", "The Menagerie, Part I", "Wolf in the Fold" and "The Trouble with Tribbles". Furthermore, the pants belonging to these uniforms were worn by extras in several early first season episodes, with the new "series version" shirts.
The captain's uniform hat was never worn, but was seen in Pike's quarters. It was originally created as Robert April's officer cap mentioned in an earlier version of the script of "The Cage."
Apocrypha
Engineering officers in the 2250s (Crew)
Female officer dress (Early Voyages)
In the IDW comic series Crew, engineering officers were depicted as wearing a red uniform, with a red collar, alongside the beige uniforms as depicted in "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before". In particular, these uniforms were depicted as only being worn in engineering, rather than elsewhere on the Enterprise, suggesting that since the engineering section of the Enterprise was never depicted during this era of TOS, such uniforms could have actually existed side-by-side with the beige Operations uniforms, thereby continuing the red division color established in Enterprise.
In the Marvel Comics series Star Trek: Early Voyages, an alternate female duty uniform was depicted as a short dress with a high-necked collar, similar to the variant worn by Nurse Chapel during the late 2260s.