Uniform Colors
- Raven
- May 20
- 3 min read
Every so often I like to touch on uniform color. This is mainly due to the fact that when I started RLSH work back in 2007 a lot of people were "black only" regarding uniforms. Before we really get going, let me just tell you that the majority of my personal clothing is black.
Is black a bad color for RLSH work?
Black is great as a base color for a uniform. You can get almost everything in black. Problems may arise if you're out on patrol wearing only black. Psychologically, black is the color of stealth. Who wants to be stealthy? Bad guys. Watch a western film, bad guys are in black or dark colors. If you imagine running into some street thugs, what color are they wearing? Bright colors? No. Probably black or very dark colors. My suggestion for those who want to wear black: add a pop of color to it.
Is white a bad color for RLSH work?
White, symbolically, is often considered the ultimate good guy color (although some would argue that blue is). I asked my friend Skyline since he uses white as his base color. He said that keeping it clean can be difficult. People can see him from a distance and recognize him because of the white. I asked him if white makes him more approachable and his response was "Most definitely, however, I don't necessarily think its to do with the white specifically, but with the overall vibrancy of my suit."
There are a lot of colors to choose from. The main color families are: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple/violet, neutrals (brown, grey), pastels, neons, metallics.
What is a neutral? A neutral is a color that can be paired with almost any other color. There are neutrals in each color family. Brown and grey are the most common, but consider your jeans. Denim blue is also a neutral, so is khaki, tan, sand, sage.
What is a pastel? A pastel is any standard color with at least 2 parts white added to it. This would be like baby pink, baby blue, mint green, butter yellow, faint orange, lavender, sand.
What are neons? Neons are fluorescent versions of primary and secondary colors. Neon colors are usually featured appearing to glow because the colors were made as tube lights filled with different gasses.
What are metallics? Metallics are colors based off of different variations of metal - typically. Some metallics are a color + metallic finish, as we can see in the DecoArt paints below.
How do you select uniform colors?
Someone asked this recently. My response is to start by eliminating colors that you don't want to use and don't fit your scheme. Whatever is left, work with those colors until you have something you like. Maybe try to limit it to 1-3 colors? It's really up to you.
Things to consider with uniform colors:
No context reactions based on uniform colors
Approachability? Can people approach you or are they scared of you?
Purposeful colors? (see video at beginning of post) You might want to be a distraction (yellow Wolverine uniform) or you may bleed a lot (Deadpool's red uniform).
Does your uniform color scheme make sense with your RLSH name? If you're name is Queen Bee, your colors should probably NOT be lime green and metallic purple because it makes no sense.
Replaceable parts. If something gets damaged or worn out, can you replace it? How difficult would it be to have a back up?
The best place to start with uniform colors is KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.
Ideas
Stealthy Colors: Black, dark grey, dark purple, navy blue, dark green, dark brown.
Basic Hero Colors: Blue, red, yellow, white.
Regal Colors: Purple, red, gold, silver, white, blue, fur, gems.
Blank templates for your designing needs. Simply save the image, print, and doodle.
On an entire other note, if you are an RLSH, please take a moment to fill out this RLSH 2026 Demographics Survey. It's anonymous. Just looking to gather some general information to study. It will end up becoming an article after the end of the year.
If there is something you would like to see me discuss here on Herocore, please feel free to contact me. raven@herocore.online
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