Starfleet uniform

Warning! This page contains information regarding Star Trek: Lower Decks, and thus may contain spoilers.

Starfleet uniforms were uniforms worn by individuals serving in the Federation Starfleet, originally a United Earth organization. These uniforms facilitated the wearers' needs as both scientists and researchers, as well as Starfleet's military role. Wearers were expected to abide by the Starfleet dress code, though special exceptions were sometimes made for certain aspects of an individual's cultural heritage, such as Worf's Klingon baldric and Nog's Ferengi headdress, as well as Ro Laren's (and briefly Kira Nerys') Bajoran earrings.

Divisions

Starfleet uniforms were generally broken down by color among the three divisions, and occasionally by department, while displaying rank insignia conspicuously. While the colors varied over time, uniforms were designed for comfort even in the most extreme environments. (DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations", "Let He Who Is Without Sin...")

Command

The command division was the head of Starfleet with most of the ranking officers in Starfleet Command wearing these colors. The command division, generally, was responsible for the administration of starships, starbases, and space stations.

Operations

The operations division was the backbone of Starfleet, being composed of the engineering, security, and support services. This division was responsible for technological innovation and for maintaining and defending the Federation.

Sciences

The sciences division was the heart of Starfleet, composed of the exploratory, medical, and mental health departments.

Uniform styles

Uniform variations

Some officers wore alternate uniforms. Deanna Troi often wore casual clothing while on duty, and T'Pol retained her original Vulcan uniform with a few concessions to her Starfleet rank and ship assignment. Other officers, such as Worf, Montgomery Scott, and Ro Laren, were allowed to wear accessories relating to their culture with their uniforms, but this was at the discretion of the captain. Uniforms were also altered to accommodate non-humanoid officers, such as the three-armed, three-legged uniform of the Edosian Arex. (ENT: "Borderland"; TAS: "Mudd's Passion"; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; TNG: "Ensign Ro")

Uniforms were also adapted to environmental or atmospheric conditions. When exploring the planet Tyree, Benjamin Sisko and colleagues wore long, flowing gown uniforms to deal with the sand. They featured a colored stripe to represent departments. (DS9: "Shadows and Symbols")

Dress uniforms

Dress uniforms were a variant of the standard Starfleet uniforms worn for special occasions, such as weddings, courts martial, funerals, and the greeting of ambassadorial delegations and heads of state. (TOS: "Court Martial", "Journey to Babel"; TNG: "Lonely Among Us", "Manhunt", "Data's Day"; DS9: "Move Along Home", "Rules of Engagement"; VOY: "Course: Oblivion", "One Small Step", "Ashes to Ashes"; Star Trek: Insurrection)

Appendices

References

Dress uniform references:

Background information

Patrick Stewart's character of Jean-Luc Picard has appeared in more styles of Starfleet uniform than any other character on screen without story contrivances (like time travel, holodecks, or alternate timelines) being involved.

For most of Star Trek's history, Starfleet uniforms have had at least three division colors. Some characters have worn different division colors in different episodes. Tom Paris, Harry Kim, Leslie, and Jae have been shown wearing all three colors at different points; however, the first character to wear all three division colors in one episode was Ensign Sam Rutherford, who wore operations gold, command red, and medical blue in LD: "Envoys".

Design

The Starfleet uniforms worn during Star Trek: The Original Series were designed by William Ware Theiss, who returned to design the Star Trek: The Next Generation uniforms (which were further adapted into future versions on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and the TNG-era films by Robert Blackman). Robert Fletcher designed the uniforms seen throughout the original series movies, with later new designs provided by Nilo Rodis.

Robert Blackman also designed uniforms worn on Star Trek: Enterprise, a design representing a precursor to those seen in TOS. The uniforms seen in Star Trek: Discovery were designed by Gersha Phillips. The uniforms in Star Trek: Picard were designed by Christine Clark.

Michael Kaplan designed the uniforms seen in Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, and Sanja Hays designed the uniforms for Star Trek Beyond.

As shown in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction, a number of Starfleet uniforms have had padding to increase muscular appearance. Such cases include two costumes for Tom Paris, one racquetball costume for Julian Bashir, and a Deep Space Nine costume for Worf, to create a more Klingon appearance. According to Wil Wheaton, all the main cast members wore muscle padding during the first two seasons of The Next Generation, mainly because of the tight-fitting nature of the spandex uniforms used in these two seasons. [2]

Several prototype uniform undershirts to those seen from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan on were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [3]

Ambiguous uniform

A Human female seen as a member of the Elysian Council in "The Time Trap" wore a uniform of ambiguous origin. It was described in the Star Trek Concordance as "a white suit with blue collar and an insignia on the left breast," and was suggested to "possibly [be] an early Star Fleet [sic] uniform". While it is known that the Bonaventure, and possibly other Earth/Federation ships, were lost in the years prior to 2269, it is unclear if this is indeed a Starfleet uniform, and, if so, from which era it originated.

External links

• Starfleet uniform at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 22nd & 23rd century Starfleet uniforms at Ex Astris Scientia
• 24th century Starfleet uniforms at Ex Astris Scientia
• Starfleet uniforms at Spike's Star Trek Page
• Interview with William Ware Theiss at Phaser Resource^(X)