Buff (colour)

Buff
— Colour coordinates —
Hex triplet		#F0DC82
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(240, 220, 130)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(49°, 46%, 94%)
Source		[Unsourced]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Buff is a pale yellow-brown colour that got its name from the colour of buff leather. Displayed on the right is the colour buff.

Etymology

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, buff as a descriptor of a colour was first used in the London Gazette of 1686, describing a uniform to be "A Red Coat with a Buff-colour'd lining".

Uses

Biology

Buff is widespread in the animal kingdom. The word buff appears in the name of many species with this colour, such as the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, the Buff Orpington chicken, Buff turkey and the Buff-bellied Pipit.

Clothing

Formal or informal waistcoats are often buff-coloured for day wear, and the traditional colour for formal dress boot uppers is often described as buff. John Bull, the character representing England who was created by John Arbuthnot in 1712, is almost always depicted in a buff coloured waistcoat and a simple frock coat (in the past Navy blue, but more recently with the Union Jack colours).

Heraldry

The U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry has included buff as a tincture (specifically as a metal) in some of its coats of arms. This is because buff is the traditional colour of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. In the British Army the Royal East Kent Regiment was nicknamed the "Buffs" from the colour of their waistcoats.

Military

Buff has good camouflage qualities in the natural environment in dry climates where sand and soil are often buff-coloured. The American Continental Army wore buff and blue uniforms.

Ships

The funnels of the White Star Line, owner of the RMS Titanic, were buff with a black top.

Sports

The colours of athletic team uniforms at The George Washington University and Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, Punahou School located in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Hamilton College in Clinton, NY are buff and blue. In the cases of George Washington University and Hamilton College (the latter named for US founding father Alexander Hamilton), the schools' colours were selected in recognition of the blue and buff colours of the Continental Army uniforms of the Revolutionary War (George Washington having been General of that army and Hamilton his Chief of Staff, and both having had a role in design of the uniforms). The Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association also use this colour for their Saint Patrick's Day jerseys.

Stationery

A buff envelope is an envelope of this colour, used extensively in commercial mailings.

Universities

The colours of The George Washington University and Hamilton College are buff and blue, modelled on the military uniform of General George Washington. Buff is one of the three colours of the Alpha Gamma Delta Women's Fraternity as well as one of the two colours of The Delta Chi Fraternity.

Vexillology

The flags of the United States states of Delaware and New Jersey, and a former flag of New York, include the colour buff.

See also

• Beige a similar colour
• Tan, a slightly darker, redder colour
• List of colours