Black

Blacked out for night raids

Some of the clearest early records of black at night are about skin. In late 1941 Time magazine described a small party of British raiders coming ashore on the German-held coast of Normandy at night, "black-uniformed" and with "faces, hands and soft-soled gym shoes appropriately blackened."

The U.S. Army wrote the habit down. Its 1944 handbook on scouting, patrolling and sniping told soldiers to paint splotches across the nose, cheeks and hands with lampblack, burned wood or grease paint mixed with soot, and to cover the back of the neck and both sides of the hands. It also warned that many black substances glisten and reflect light, and that wide solid bands should not be used. The splotches were there to break up the shape of a face.

Princes Gate, 1980

The picture many carry of black kit comes from London. On 30 April 1980, six gunmen took over the Iranian Embassy at 16 Princes Gate and held 26 people hostage. On the evening of 5 May, teams from Britain's Special Air Service stormed the building, one of them in full view of the press, and the raid went out live on television. In 17 minutes it was over and 19 hostages were free.

The National Army Museum notes that the images of soldiers in black clothing and gas masks became a symbol of British special forces, and that the siege woke up public interest in them. Police assault teams wore black too. One reason given was the idea that a black-clad figure would unsettle a suspect.

Why black shows up at night

The catch is that night is often lighter than black. The same 1944 Army handbook reminded scouts that there will be many bright nights, and that at night objects are recognized by their dark outlines against the sky. A figure darker than the sky behind it gives a lookout exactly that outline.

Air forces learned this on a larger scale. Aircraft flying at night were often painted black, but black turned out to be darker than the night sky. The de Havilland Mosquito began its night fighter career in matte black, which was good against searchlights but made the aircraft easy to see on moonlit nights and against cloud, and a version of a day scheme replaced it. By 1943 the Luftwaffe's night fighters had moved to a light grey coat to match the glow of the cities they defended.

Camouflage designers drew the same line. When the U.S. Army built a pattern for night in the 1970s, it came out in two greens, with no black at all: that is Desert Night. When the Army designed its grey digital uniform, fielded from 2005, it left black out completely, saying black is a color not commonly found in nature.

Police teams have weighed the same question. In 2011 a Missouri sheriff's captain told Police Magazine that black was strong for intimidation but poor for keeping a low profile, and that many SWAT teams were moving away from it.

Black off duty

Even the best-known figure in black owes his look to the stage. The black ninja suit grew out of Japanese theater, where ninja characters were dressed like kuroko, the black-suited stagehands the audience was meant to ignore.

So black's real record is shorter and more specific than its reputation. It belongs to blacked-out faces on night raids and to assault teams in full view of the cameras. Away from the job, it is the color that goes with jeans, a work shirt or a town street without anyone looking twice. For the greens and browns that carry the rest of our range, see Ranger Green, Coyote Tan and our guide to every Woobie camo.