Air Force Clothing
By RNZAF Clothing Manager, F/S Shar Carson (Air Force News Issue 198)
Innovation is vital when it comes to ensuring we are using the appropriate textiles and uniform that is fit for purpose for our RNZAF personnel. It is not merely a matter of how we look, but in order to protect our people, and our capabilities, it is all about what that uniform will do to provide protection when needed. Many developments in textiles and designs of uniforms around the globe have provided us with plenty of ideas, but nothing can take away the fact that history and our past has paved the way for how we are seen today.
Where did our RNZAF uniform originate?
The Royal Air Force (RAF) uniform was introduced in 1918 and was based on early Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and Royal Flying Corp (RFC) styles. The uniform was Khaki to begin with, following Army design and colours, but mysteriously in 1918, a light blue uniform appeared on the backs of RAF officers.
Where did this light blue fabric come from? Apparently the Tsar’s government ordered vast quantities of a light “Ruritanian” blue material in 1915 to clothe a Cossack cavalry regiment. By 1917 the order had been completed and was ready for shipment, but the abdication of the Tsar in 1917 left the material on the textile manufacturer’s hands! What was he to do with a cloth that was of a colour that was impossible to dye?
Then in 1918, the sudden announcement of the formation of a Royal Air Force (RAF) seemed a heaven-sent opportunity to get rid of the now surplus cloth in the manufacture of new uniforms. There were of course a need to have embellishments placed on this new fabric and that came in the form of gold wire badges and brevets. Young Lily Elsie suggested to the senior members of the Air Council that they approve this addition. There was a slight problem however, as many serving officers did not share the enthusiasm for the light blue uniform with John Slessor, Marshal of the RAF stating: “a nasty pale blue with a lot of gold over it, which brought irresistibly to mind a vision of the gentlemen who stands outside the cinema”.
With that, the light blue “Ruritanian” fabric and uniforms were abandoned in July 1918. Instead a more sober blue-grey material was selected and sanctioned as the official uniform colour for the RAF in September 1919. The present RAF and RNZAF blue-grey colour dates from that time.
(Excerpts from “Per Ardua Ad Astra — A Handbook of the Royal Air Force” by Philip Congdon, 1987).
