October 25, 2001

khaki

What is khaki? Is it a color? Or an item of apparel? Where did such a strange word originate?

Khaki is both a color and a cloth. The color is commonly described as dull brown or drab yellow. The cloth can be of various fabrics, the most common being cotton. The word comes from the Urdu word khaki, 'dusty' or 'dust-colored'. Its history is intimately connected with the British army's residence in India and Afghanistan in the 19th century. So, it's not untimely, in a roundabout way.

Fairchild's Dictionary of Textiles says that "in 1848 [Brigadier General Sir] Harry Burnett Lumsden, in equipping his army corps against the Afghans, had the uniforms dyed khaki color. Gradually, all uniform cloths dyed such a shade were called khaki, although the fabrics included drill, serge, whipcord, with fast dye the chief requisite in every instance." Drill, serge, and whipcord are different weaves of various cloths, a common characteristic of them all being strength.

Great Britain's National Army Museum's web site has a portrait of Harry Lumsden which you can enlarge. (Go to "Collections" and then do a keyword search for khaki.) It shows off his medals better than the uniform itself, but you can get an idea. The site will give you further details of Lumsden and his regiment, the Queen's Own Corps of Guides. And it reveals that "the light brown cotton clothing which he ordered for his men was dyed with river mud."

The Columbia Encyclopedia defines khaki as a "closely twilled cloth of linen or cotton, dyed a dust color." It tells the Lumsden story, then informs us that eventually khaki "became the official color for British army uniforms." Anyone remember Gunga Din? The encyclopedia further reports that the cloth was taken up by the Boy Scouts for their uniforms, a fact I had forgotten, probably since I didn't last long in that organization.

The color changes came with World War I. Fairchild's Dictionary of Textiles says that "after the U.S. entered World War I, an olive tint was added to the color to make the khaki invisible both against the bare ground and the foliage.

Nowadays, when you go to a store to buy a pair of khakis, you can choose from any number of colors. The most popular shade of khaki still seems to be khaki, though.

Richard