What color were the Continental Army?
blue wool
This blue wool coat is part of a suit of regimentals made for George Washington in 1789. It has a buff wool rise-and-fall collar, buff cuffs and lapels, and buff lining; there is a row of yellow metal buttons on each lapel, as well as on each cuff. The waistcoat and breeches are matching buff wool, with gilt buttons.
Many of them weren’t trained soldiers and they didn’t have uniforms. Most of them wore whatever clothes they had. In 1775 the Congress adopted brown as the official color for the uniforms. However, many soldiers didn’t have brown coats to wear because there was a shortage of brown material.
The armies at the time of the American Revolution wore whatever they could manage to find for as the war continued cloth became more and more difficult to find. Those regiments loyal to the King or Loyalists wore green.
What was the first official color of the Continental Army uniform?
Officers wore blue coats, white vests, waist coats and breeches of buff or white. Rank was displayed on shoulder epaulets following the British style. Many uniforms were obtained from captured British stores. Spain’s sea engagements with Britain resulted in 3,000 captured uniforms shipped to the Continental Army.
