Comfort or attractive appearance?
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In the second half of the 19th century colourful uniforms were replaced with camouflage ones. In the 1860s uniforms of
the British army included light-grey shirts because the units fought at Afghan border. Similarly, colonial troops of the Kingdom of Italy fighting on the Libyan Desert at the beginning of the 20th century wore sand-coloured uniforms. Gradually, the colours of the uniforms were adjusted to the colours of the battlefield. In 1879 Austro-Hungarian troops changed the colour of their uniform jackets to light grey and blue called “Hechtgrau”. British army changed the colour of its uniforms during the Second Boer War. At that time that khaki colour meaning in Hindi “dusted or dust colour” became common. The first khaki clothes were made in Baroda, the West Indies. Apart from uniforms, camouflage also concerned shiny elements as they could be easily spotted and military insignia for safety reasons. It helped to protect own troops because expert marksmen often targeted officers, depriving soldiers of their commanders. In 1904-1905 Japanese army protected its well-trained commanders by using camouflage. Till 1914 French army was dressed in the traditional colourful uniforms, gradually replacing them with blue-coloured ones (“bleu horizont”). The blue dye was natural and came from Picardy; it had been chosen because it made soldiers invisible against the background of the horizon. It was not the first attempt at using colour for camouflage purposes in the French army; experiments with beige, blue and grey were carried out from 1903. The Russian army used green and muddy colour quite successfully. The First World War put a definite end to colourful fancy uniforms used at the battlefields; colours remained only in ceremonial dresses.
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![First uniforms in masking colors. Austrian-Hungarian soldier in grey-blue uniform (“Hechtgrau”). Soldier of 13 c. and k. Regiment of Infantry “Cracow Children” [“Dzieci Krakowa”] in the eve of the First World War. Painted by Andrzej Zaręba.](dat/images/467.jpg "First uniforms in masking colors. Austrian-Hungarian soldier in grey-blue uniform (“Hechtgrau”). Soldier of 13 c. and k. Regiment of Infantry “Cracow Children” [“Dzieci Krakowa”] in the eve of the First World War. Painted by Andrzej Zaręba.")
Soldier of 13 c. and k. Regiment of Infantry “Cracow Children” [“Dzieci Krakowa”] in the eve of the First World War. Painted by Andrzej Zaręba.
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His head is protected by leather helmet, so-called “pikielhauba”, with canvas protector. First World War period. Painted by Andrzej Zaręba.
![First uniforms in masking colors. Austrian-Hungarian soldier in grey-blue uniform (“Hechtgrau”). Soldier of 13 c. and k. Regiment of Infantry “Cracow Children” [“Dzieci Krakowa”] in the eve of the First World War. Painted by Andrzej Zaręba.](dat/images/467b.jpg "First uniforms in masking colors. Austrian-Hungarian soldier in grey-blue uniform (“Hechtgrau”). Soldier of 13 c. and k. Regiment of Infantry “Cracow Children” [“Dzieci Krakowa”] in the eve of the First World War. Painted by Andrzej Zaręba.")
