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Olive is a dark yellowish-green color, like that of unripe or green
olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...
s. As a color word in the English language, it appears in late
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...
.


Variations


Olivine

Olivine is the typical color of the mineral
olivine The mineral olivine () is a magnesium iron Silicate minerals, silicate with the chemical formula . It is a type of Nesosilicates, nesosilicate or orthosilicate. The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle (Earth), upper mantle, it is a com ...
. The first recorded use of ''olivine'' as a color name in English was in 1912.


Olive drab

Olive drab is variously described as a "A brownish-green colour" (''Oxford English Dictionary'');" Olive Drab, N." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, July 2023. "a shade of greenish-brown" (''Webster's New World Dictionary''); "a dark gray-green" (''MacMillan English dictionary''); "a grayish olive to dark olive brown or olive gray" (''American Heritage Dictionary''); or "A dull but fairly strong gray-green color" (''Collins English Dictionary''). It is widely used as a camouflage color for uniforms and equipment in the armed forces. The first recorded use of ''olive drab'' as a color name in English was in 1892. Drab is an older color name, from the middle of the 16th century. It refers to a dull light brown color, the color of cloth made from undyed homespun wool. It took its name from the old French word for cloth, ''drap''. There are many shades and variations of olive drab. Various shades were used on
United States Army uniforms in World War II The United States Army in World War II used a variety of standard and non-standard dress and battle uniforms, which often changed depending upon the theater of war, climatic environment, and supply exigencies. Men's service uniforms U.S. Army b ...
. The shade used for enlisted soldier's uniforms at the beginning of the war was officially called ''Olive Drab #33'' (OD33), while officer's uniforms used the much darker ''Olive Drab #51'' (OD51). Field equipment was in ''Olive Drab #3'' (OD3), a very light, almost
khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan (color), tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage rela ...
shade. In 1943 new field uniforms and equipment were produced in the darker ''Olive Drab #7'' (OD7). This was in turn replaced by the slightly grayer ''Olive Green 107'' (
OG-107 The OG-107 was the basic work and combat utility uniform (fatigues) of all branches of the United States Armed Forces from 1952 until its discontinuation in 1989. The designation came from the U.S. Army's coloring code " Olive Green 107", whic ...
) in 1952, which continued as the color of combat uniforms through the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
until the adoption in 1981 of the four-color-camouflage-patterned M81
Battle Dress Uniform The Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) is a camouflaged combat uniform that was used by the United States Armed Forces as their standard combat uniform from the early 1980s to the mid-2000s. Since then, it has been replaced or supplanted in every bra ...
, which retained olive drab as one of the color swatches in the pattern. The shade used for painting vehicles is defined by
Federal Standard 595 Federal Standard 595, known as SAE AMS-STD-595 – Colors Used in Government Procurement, formerly FED-STD-595, is a United States Federal Standard for colors, issued by the General Services Administration. History FED-STD-595, 595A, and 5 ...
in the United States. As a solid color, it is not as effective for camouflage as multi-color patterns, though it is still used by the U.S. military to color webbing and accessories. The armies of
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, and
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
wear solid-color olive drab uniforms. In the American novel ''
A Separate Peace ''A Separate Peace'' is a Bildungsroman, coming-of-age novel by John Knowles, published in 1959. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", published in the May 1956 issue of ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'', it was Knowles's first p ...
'', Finny says to Gene, "...and in these times of war, we all see olive drab, and we all know it is the patriotic color. All others aren't about the war; they aren't patriotic."
Pantone 448 C Pantone 448 C is a colour in the Pantone colour system. Described as a "drab dark brown" and informally dubbed the "ugliest colour in the world", it was selected in 2012 as the colour for plain tobacco and cigarette packaging in Australia, aft ...
, "the ugliest color in the world" commonly used in
plain tobacco packaging Plain tobacco packaging, also known as generic, neutral, standardised or homogeneous packaging, is packaging of tobacco products, typically cigarettes, without any branding (colours, imagery, corporate logos and trademarks), including only the br ...
, was initially described as a shade of olive green. File:M1943 Field Jacket.jpg, An olive drab M-1943 field jacket, worn by US soldiers during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
. File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Officer Course for Infantry Command.jpg, Olive drab is the uniform color of the
Israel Army The Israeli Ground Forces () are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of the Gen ...
. File:Cuban Soldiers of Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias.jpg, Cuban soldiers in olive drab. File:M1helmetshell.jpg, An M1 helmet, the standard helmet of the U.S. Army from 1941 through the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. This helmet is from the Vietnam War; the color is olive green 107.


Black olive

Black olive is a color in the RAL color matching system. It is designated as
RAL 6015 The following is a list of RAL Classic colours from the RAL colour standard. The visual samples are approximate and informative only. RAL Classic Yellow and beige Orange Red Violet Blue Green Grey Brown White and b ...
. The color "black olive" is a representation of the color of black olives.


Olive in culture

Ethnography * The term "olive-skinned" is sometimes used to denote shades of medium-toned skin that is darker than the average color for
White people White is a Race (human categorization), racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry. It is also a Human skin color, skin color specifier, although the definition can var ...
, especially in connection with a Mediterranean ethnicity.


See also

*
List of colors These are the lists of colors; * List of colors: A–F * List of colors: G–M * List of colors: N–Z * List of colors (alphabetical) * List of colors by shade * List of color palettes * List of Crayola crayon colors * List of RAL colours * List o ...
*
Khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan (color), tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage rela ...
, another color common in military uniforms *
Sage #REDIRECT Sage {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
, a color visually similar to olive green


References

{{Olives, sate=collapsed Quaternary colors Shades of green Shades of black Web colors