First Officer color code

alex0112

Hi, one of my characters have a Vulcan Science Officer who's also the XO/First Officer. So my question is, do first officers wear the red command uniform no matter what division they're apart of, or should he still wear the normal blue?

kyeto13

It depends. We have seen XO wear previous uniforms (T'Pol) XO wear their department (Spock) and XO who change their department.

It's your RP, play it how you like.

neoakiraii

TNG RED...Riker had Red, but was Yellow before....Data who became XO under Jellico put on Red when Riker got the boot.


TOS whatever division they are in Example Spock Blue.

edwardianed

There's no definite rule; it generally comes down to which position is the primary and which the secondary. Strictly speaking, first officer is always the primary position as it's senior to all other positions other than the captain, so your officer would wear red. But then you're the captain so the final decision rests with you, if you insist that the primary duty of your XO is science officer, then he's a science officer and blue it is.

In DS9 there was an Admiral who still wore operations gold, so there is precedent for retaining departmental colour as opposed to command.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Toddman

thecosmic1

neoakiraii wrote: »

TNG RED...Riker had Red, but was Yellow before....Data who became XO under Jellico put on Red when Riker got the boot.


TOS whatever division they are in Example Spock Blue.

I have to agree with this. Riker went Red when he became XO, as did Data and Chakotay - though Chakotay had no official rank. That leads me to believe in the TNG era that Red was the official color for an XO.

tc10b

Worf also went Red when he was made XO of the Defiant.

thegreendragoon1

The impression I get that it depends on the career track of the officer. Most executive officers are command track because they're pursuing a command of their own. That said, it's not unheard for a non-command track officer to be made XO (and even on rare occasions starship command.) Admirals are also more than just command. The way I see it, there is more to the Admiralty than the part that coordinates the fleet. There are admirals heading up science devisions, R & D divisions, construction projects and such.

stofsk

neoakiraii wrote: »

TNG RED...Riker had Red, but was Yellow before....Data who became XO under Jellico put on Red when Riker got the boot.


TOS whatever division they are in Example Spock Blue.

Data also wore his operations yellow when he took command after both Picard and Riker were captured by Boran in 'Gambit'. Worf was his XO and also remained wearing the ops/security yellow.

Also Data didn't change uniforms when he took command of the Sutherland in 'Redemption part 2'.

thecosmic1 wrote: »

I have to agree with this. Riker went Red when he became XO, as did Data and Chakotay - though Chakotay had no official rank. That leads me to believe in the TNG era that Red was the official color for an XO.

Chakotay had an official rank - he was Lieutenant Commander IIRC before he defected to the Maquis. When on Voyager, he was given the provisional rank of Commander by Janeway.

tc10b wrote: »

Worf also went Red when he was made XO of the Defiant.

Worf also changed career tracks from security to command. He became DS9's 'strategic operations officer', which was a new role they pulled out of their bums but I'd imagine was basically equivalent to the command track.

thecosmic1

stofsk wrote: »

Data also wore his operations yellow when he took command after both Picard and Riker were captured by Boran in 'Gambit'. Worf was his XO and also remained wearing the ops/security yellow.

That was temporary command. Data wasn't going to run off and change his uniform when in a crisis.

Also Data didn't change uniforms when he took command of the Sutherland in 'Redemption part 2'.

Again, temporary command.

Chakotay had an official rank - he was Lieutenant Commander IIRC before he defected to the Maquis. When on Voyager, he was given the provisional rank of Commander by Janeway.

I'm relatively sure that once you defect to a hostile organization they take away your ranking.

Worf also changed career tracks from security to command. He became DS9's 'strategic operations officer', which was a new role they pulled out of their bums but I'd imagine was basically equivalent to the command track.

Worf started his career as Red as a relief conn officer. When he took over security after Tasha died he changed to yellow, as security is under ship operations.

misterde3

stofsk wrote: »

Data also wore his operations yellow when he took command after both Picard and Riker were captured by Boran in 'Gambit'. Worf was his XO and also remained wearing the ops/security yellow.

Also Data didn't change uniforms when he took command of the Sutherland in 'Redemption part 2'.

Both of these were considered very temporary changes.
Jellico appearently considered Riker's removal from his position to be permanent...and he had a thing for the right uniform at the right time as we saw with him ordering Troi to put on a blue uniform.;)

adverbero

just gonna throw in that La Forge also makes the change on promotion as the USS Chalenger's captain

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Geordi_La_Forge?file=Geordi_La_Forge%252C_Timeless.jpg

hevach

Chakotay had an official rank - he was Lieutenant Commander IIRC before he defected to the Maquis. When on Voyager, he was given the provisional rank of Commander by Janeway.

Based on his pip, his provisional rank was only lieutenant commander. He seems to have just been a brevetted commander.

gavinruneblade

kyeto13 wrote: »

It depends. We have seen XO wear previous uniforms (T'Pol) XO wear their department (Spock) and XO who change their department.

It's your RP, play it how you like.

T'Pol was just like Kira in DS9, or Riker when assigned to the Klingon Bird of Prey: An officer from an allied government wearing the appropriate uniform of that government.

In the TOS era commanders wore their department colors but with the correct rank. I'm not sure about the few I saw here and there in green, might have been admirals? Can anyone clear that up for me?

Post TOS permanent command moved to red, temporary command kept department colors. The few exceptions can probably be chalked up to script errors. Like when people wore the wrong era uniform during time travel episodes.

bberge1701

gavinruneblade wrote: »

In the TOS era commanders wore their department colors but with the correct rank. I'm not sure about the few I saw here and there in green, might have been admirals? Can anyone clear that up for me?

To quote from Memory Alpha:

Command uniforms ranged in color depending on the type of fabric used. While they were generally described as gold, some of the darker variants had a distinct greenish hue, while the dress uniforms, and a captain's alternate tunic were clearly green.

It also depends on the lighting. I think the actual color of the fabric used in TOS was a little weird, and not accurately reflected on screen.

startrekker22

although the majority of what is said above is correct, it depends on what you mean. in the shows or in game. in game it depends on the profession, while in the shows i believe it has to be red, at least post tng.

stirling191

tc10b wrote: »

Worf also went Red when he was made XO of the Defiant.

Worf went red because the post he took (Strategic Operations Officer) was a Command branch position, not because he was commanding the Defiant when Sisko was putting his feet up.

Also, Judzia didn't change to red when she took over as CO/XO of the Defiant while Worf was off fighting at Martok's side prior to the recapture of DS9.

assimilatedktar

Starting with TNG captain and XO used red uniforms. However, since the uniform code in STO is relaxed to the point where you can wear TOS or mirror universe uniforms (or pink and vomit-green abominations) it depends on how you want it on your ship. On my ship I use the instructor colours of the Starfleet Academy uniform and have a few cadets in the crew so my XO/science officer still uses the blue uniform to show that she's the science teacher first.

neoakiraii

in STO my XO wears pink because it matches her eyes.

javaman1969

The above explanations are correct. Star Trek had many XO's from many places, and not always from Starfleet. Spock was not only XO, he was also the head of the science department. Riker was command track, so was Pike's XO. T'Pol was a Vulcan Liaison officer. Kira Narese was a Bajoran Liaison Officer. Worf switched job descriptions when he transferred to DS9. Chakotay and the former Maquis received provisional ranks on Voyager. Also note there were division color changes between TOS and TNG.

It depends on the uniform era. It also depends on want YOU want to do since every player designs the uniform for his own senior staff in this game. Unlike the TV shows, every ship's uniforms are different.

I just threw out any separate command color for my ship because I can. My division colors look like this:
Blue: Sciences (My Science Captain wears blue because he has a thing about being known as a scientist)
Red: Security/Tactical (My XO wears red because she is also the head of Tactical)
Gold: Engineering/Operations

But, that's just me, go ahead and do something completely different if you want. Let them wear civvies if you care to. You are the master of your vessel.

tinkerstorm

Everyone knows that the appropriate uniform color for all commanding officers is purple. Except on Fridays when it is hot pink.

alikain

OP it doesn't matter, choose what ever colour you want. My Sci captain has a Sci XO, and she wear the Sci colours.

misterde3

tinkerstorm wrote: »

Everyone knows that the appropriate uniform color for all commanding officers is purple. Except on Fridays when it is hot pink.

Purple! The colour that demands respect and trust.

His purple invokes both!

edwardianed

tinkerstorm wrote: »

Everyone knows that the appropriate uniform color for all commanding officers is purple. Except on Fridays when it is hot pink.

Oh, did Command bring back hot pink Fridays? I shall have to put out a ship wide memo...

aucassin2

edwardianed wrote: »

Oh, did Command bring back hot pink Fridays? I shall have to put out a ship wide memo...

There must a spelling error here. I'm sure you meant type "hot pants Fridays."

stofsk

thecosmic1 wrote: »

That was temporary command. Data wasn't going to run off and change his uniform when in a crisis.


Again, temporary command.

That's actually not relevant. It doesn't take that long to change uniforms. While 'Gambit' was almost a non-stop crisis situation, Picard was considered KIA at the start of the episode and Data became the new XO before Riker was kidnapped, but Data didn't change uniforms. Sutherland was temporary, but it was also the first time Data was given command of a starship. And the fact that he didn't change uniforms in either case, suggests 'command wears red' is not a rule written in stone.

As someone above said, Jadzia remained in science blue when she took command of the Defiant after Sisko got reassigned to be Admiral Ross' adjutant. At the time this wasn't said to be a temporary reassignment. Obviously it turned out to be temporary, but that was because Operation Return was successfully accomplished. But she didn't change uniform either in that episode or in the next.

There was also Admiral Pressman who wore yellow in 'The Die is Cast'.

I'm relatively sure that once you defect to a hostile organization they take away your ranking.

Someone better tell Janeway that then :v

Worf started his career as Red as a relief conn officer. When he took over security after Tasha died he changed to yellow, as security is under ship operations.

Um, I know that. Red = command, and conn is a junior officer position on most ships but is part of the command track. I'm saying that they came up with a role for Worf that hadn't even existed prior to 'Way of the Warrior'. That's all I meant by that comment.

thecosmic1

stofsk wrote: »

That's actually not relevant. It doesn't take that long to change uniforms. While 'Gambit' was almost a non-stop crisis situation, Picard was considered KIA at the start of the episode and Data became the new XO before Riker was kidnapped, but Data didn't change uniforms. Sutherland was temporary, but it was also the first time Data was given command of a starship. And the fact that he didn't change uniforms in either case, suggests 'command wears red' is not a rule written in stone.

What I'm trying to get across here is the fact that Data was never given permanent command of the Enterprise or the Sutherland. He assumed command of the Enterprise because his Captain and 1st officer went missing and he's third in command. He was put aboard the Sutherland for a specific mission but he was still an officer aboard the Enterprise. Effectively the Sutherland was just a big shuttle mission. When Data was made permanent First Officer he wore the Red.

There's a huge difference between someone taking temporary command in a time of crisis and someone becoming the permanent command officer. Data would never have been given command of the D even if they hadn't recovered Picard and Riker.

As someone above said, Jadzia remained in science blue when she took command of the Defiant after Sisko got reassigned to be Admiral Ross' adjutant. At the time this wasn't said to be a temporary reassignment. Obviously it turned out to be temporary, but that was because Operation Return was successfully accomplished. But she didn't change uniform either in that episode or in the next.

The Defiant didn't follow a normal command structure. It was really a support vessel for DS9 more then anything else. That's not to discredit the ship in any way, but Sisko commanded it, Kira commanded it, O'brien commanded it, etc. It really just seemed like whomever was handy commanded it when the story demanded it.

There was also Admiral Pressman who wore yellow in 'The Die is Cast'.

Not all admirals are command admirals. Some are in command of science facilities or medical facilities - and their uniforms reflect that. Admiral McCoy was also wearing blue when visited the D.

fraghul2000

In the end, it boils down to the same thing as "how big is the Defiant?"

It's about as big, durable and powerful as the script and the director wants it to be.

Same goes for the uniform. Author and director think someone should be wearing a red uniform while taking command? He wears red.

Imho most of those uniform changes, while a lot of them are consistent, just were part of what the filmmakers wanted and slipped through the claws of the person who was in charge of continuation issues....

adverbero

fraghul2000 wrote: »

In the end, it boils down to the same thing as "how big is the Defiant?"

It's about as big, durable and powerful as the script and the director wants it to be.

Same goes for the uniform. Author and director think someone should be wearing a red uniform while taking command? He wears red.

Imho most of those uniform changes, while a lot of them are consistent, just were part of what the filmmakers wanted and slipped through the claws of the person who was in charge of continuation issues....

Kind of like how they switched the colours between TOS and TNG really, what looks best in the directors eye

javaman1969

adverbero wrote: »

Kind of like how they switched the colours between TOS and TNG really, what looks best in the directors eye

Without the red and the gold shirts following any logical pattern:

TOS
Gold: Command/Helm/Nav/Tactical
Red: Engineering/Security/Communications

TNG
Red:Command/helm/Nav
Gold: Ops/Tactical/Engineering/Security

They could have used more colors I think.

undyingzero

javaman1969 wrote: »

Without the red and the gold shirts following any logical pattern:

TOS
Gold: Command/Helm/Nav/Tactical
Red: Engineering/Security/Communications

TNG
Red:Command/helm/Nav
Gold: Ops/Tactical/Engineering/Security

They could have used more colors I think.

Well, it seems that in TNG and I think DS9 Medical used a Teal/Blue Green colour, while Sciences used the typical blue. I've been thinking of experimenting with making Engineering Orange and Security Yellow, just to see how it feels.

farmallm

I do it different on my Officers. Color for the spec. Like Red for Tac, Yellow for Eng. Same goes for my other officers.