This question should have occured to me sooner. 'Why do police officers have blue uniforms?'
Old timey cops from the 19th Century up through today. The police wear blue. They just do.
I should have thought further and asked myself why.
Then I stumbled over this.
Summary... No one knows....
Ok, probably because blue is easier to clean, coupled with inertia nowadays and some psychologist mumbo jumbo. That's the TL:DR version.
Local and state cops here, where I live, wear brown
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Probably because blue is a cheaper dye than most other colors too. Or at least that was the case before the 1900's.
My understanding is that Robert Peel, the Englishman who set up the London Police Dept. in the 1800's chose Blue to separate the Cops from the British Redcoats. But it only became Official in the 1920's. But Mr. Peel gave us the term "Bobbies" (because that's what the locals called his Police) and "Coppers" because of their Badges. But I don't know why some States have Brown Uniforms.
But I don't know why some States have Brown Uniforms.
The joke that has the punchline "Bring me my brown pants" comes to mind.
Les -- when rural sheriff's departments desided to go to uniforms, khaki uniform shirts were cheap. Mix with brown pants and you have neatly distinguished them from the US Army khaki uniform of the time, AND the police blue uniforms. (Legally and technically, sheriff's deputies and city police are very distinct, in most states. Because the Sheriff is a constitutional officer and his deputies answer to him, while the Chief of Police is a political appointee, and he and his officers serve at the pleasure of teh city government. . . until civil appointment rules came into play.)
What I don't understand is why VA reverses it -- by law, sheriff's deputies wear dark brown shirts with khaki trousers. . .
And the British Army wears red coats because the "New Army" under Cromwell needed uniforms (previously there were no unforms) and red dye was the cheapest in the 17th century. That the red coats were easily visible through the gun smoke of battle was, I'm sure, coincidental. The French, then, had to make do with blue, and the Prussians with green.
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