Department of the Army Pamphlet 670-1, Guide to the Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia, specifies Crimson (cable 65013) and Yellow (65002) as the branch colors for the Ordnance Corps. These are feature on the hatband of the service cap worn by officers (O-1 to O6) and the sleeves of the Army Service Uniform and Blues Mess Dress jackets; regulations also state the first-named color of Crimson is to be used for the lining of the blue cape worn by officers in pay grades O-1 to O-6.
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As with so many branches of the Army in the early days of the United States, the Ordnance Department (established May 14, 1812) was not assigned a particular color for use in the uniforms of officers or enlisted personnel. After it was merged into the Artillery branch in 1821, the regulations acknowledge the function of Ordnance personnel by station that “enlisted men of ordnance will wear artillery uniform.”
Following the re-establishment of the Ordnance Corps in 1832, officers in the Ordnance Corps wore a hat with a red plume—the same color as the Artillery branch. Major uniform revisions in 1851 led to Crimson being officially prescribed as the Ordnance color in 1851, but in 1902 the colors were changed to Black and Scarlet—a move almost certainly linked to the establishment of the Coast Artillery Corps. The current colors of Crimson and Yellow were officially prescribed on October 14, 1921.
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