Buff (colour)

Etymology

The first recorded use of the word buff to describe a colour was in The London Gazette of 1686, describing a uniform to be "...a Red Coat with a Buff-colour'd lining". It referred to the colour of undyed buffalo leather, such as soldiers wore as some protection: an eyewitness to the death in the Battle of Edgehill (1642) of Sir Edmund Verney noted "he would neither put on arms [armour] or buff coat the day of the battle". Such buff leather was suitable for buffing or serving as a buffer between polished objects. It is not clear which bovine "buffalo" referred to, but it may not have been any of the animals called "buffalo" today.

Derived terms

The word buff meaning "enthusiast" or "expert" (US English) derives from the colour "buff", specifically from the buff-coloured uniform facings of 19th-century New York City volunteer firemen, who inspired partisan followers among particularly keen fire watchers.

"In the buff", today meaning naked, originally applied to English soldiers wearing the buff leather tunic that was their uniform until the 17th century. The "naked" signification is due to the perception that (English) skin is buff-coloured.

In nature

Geology

Sand, rock, and loess tend to be buff in many areas. File:Sand Drawings.JPG|Buff sand File:Short Cliff - geograph.org.uk - 881661.jpg|Buff rock at the top of a cliff File:LoessVicksburg.jpg|Buff loess

Natural selection

Because buff is effective in camouflage, it is often naturally selected. File:AB Keeled Scales.jpg|Buff bands on a snake File:Phalera bucephala MHNT.jpg|A moth with buff wingtips (Phalera bucephala) File:Phalera bucephala, Mondvogel 6.JPG|The buff wingtips of this moth aid in camouflage. File:Panellus_stipticus_8445.jpg|Buff fungi Many species are named for their buff markings, including the buff arches moth, the buff-bellied climbing mouse, and at least sixty birds, including the buff-fronted quail-dove, the buff-vented bulbul, and the buff-spotted flufftail. File:Nomascus-gabriellae.jpg|A pair of northern buffed-cheeked gibbons File:Buff-banded Rail LEI Jan08.jpg|The buff-banded rail File:Theristicus caudatus (Coclí) (5145728595).jpg|The buff-necked ibis File:Tangara cayana1.jpg|The burnished-buff tanager

In culture

Architecture

In areas where buff raw materials are available, buff walls and buildings may be found. Cotswold stone is an example of such a material, as is Cream City brick.

File:The Street - geograph.org.uk - 350549.jpg|Traditional buff stone buildings File:Poplar, Follett Street, E14 (1) - geograph.org.uk - 934243.jpg|Modern buff brick buildings (centre) File:Milwaukee_July_2023_105_(Turner_Hall).jpg|Cream City brick

Stationery and art

Unless bleached or dyed, paper products, such as Manila paper, tend to be buff. Buff envelopes are used extensively in commercial mailings.

File:Manila papier.jpg|Manila paper File:SayilmisSecimZarflari.JPG|Buff envelopes

Buff paper is sometimes favoured by artists seeking a neutral background colour for drawings, especially those featuring the colour white.

File:Portrait of a gentleman by Sir Peter Lely.jpg|Red and white chalk portrait on buff paper File:Waterfall at Tivoli by George Hayter.jpg|Black chalk with brown wash, heightened with white on buff paper File:Tour de St Romain Rouen cathedral by William Froome Smallwood.jpg|Graphite drawing with watercolour wash on buff paper

Artificial selection

Buff domesticated animals and plants have been created, including dogs, cats, and poultry. The word buff is used in written standards of several breeds, and some, such as the Buff turkey, are specifically named "buff".

File:American Cocker Spaniel buff portrait.jpg|A buff gun dog File:Shaded Tan Maine Coon cat.jpg|A buff mousing cat File:Mareca penelope female s2.jpg|A female eurasian wigeon File:Buff_Orpington_chicken,_UK.jpg|A buff chicken File:Orpington Duck 2014-10-20 001.jpg|The Buff Orpington Duck File:Rosa 'Buff Beauty'.jpg|The rose cultivar 'Buff Beauty'.

Clothing

In 16th- and 17th-century European cultures, buff waistcoats ("vests" in American English), were considered proper casual wear. In the 17th century, the traditional colour of formal dress boot uppers was often described as "buff".

File:Musician Holding Bagpipes 1632.jpg|17th-century English musician wearing a buff waistcoat File:Piccolomini_5.jpg|17th-century Italian nobleman wearing buff dress boot uppers

John Bull

Clothing depicted on John Bull, a national personification of Britain in general and England in particular, in political cartoons and similar graphic works, has often been buff coloured. Bull's buff waistcoats, topcoats, trousers and boot uppers were typical of 18th- and 19th-century Englishmen.

File:Tree_of_liberty.jpg|Early depiction of John Bull with the buff clothing typical of an 18th-century Englishman File:John Bull - World War I recruiting poster.jpeg|John Bull wearing buff dress boot uppers File:The Great Rapprochement.jpg|John Bull wearing buff trousers

17th-century military uniforms

File:HGM Saal 1 Musketiere und Pikeniere.jpg|Buff German uniforms File:Footpath to Hall Hill, near West Keal - geograph.org.uk - 717980.jpg|Dry vegetation in Europe

The British army

The Royal East Kent Regiment was nicknamed "The Buffs" from the colour of their waistcoats. The phrase "Steady the Buffs!", popularised by Rudyard Kipling in his 1888 work Soldiers Three, has its origins during 2nd Battalion's garrison duties in Malta. Adjutant Cotter, not wanting to be shown up in front of his former regiment, the 21st Royal (North British) Fusiliers, spurred his men on with the words: "Steady, the Buffs! The Fusiliers are watching you."

US Army

The uniform of the American Continental Army was buff and blue.

Buff is the traditional colour of the US Army Quartermaster Corps.

The US Army Institute of Heraldry specifies a "buff" tincture for certain coats of arms, often treating it as a metal for purposes of the rule of tincture.

File:Infantry, Continental Army, 1779-1783.jpg|Continental Army uniforms: "The Buff and Blue" File:Chevron - Quartermaster Sergeant 1902-1909.png|US chevrons—quartermaster sergeant insignia (1902–1909): buff on black with blue detail. File:43rdSBSSI.svg|USAIH illustration which specifies "a buff colored vertical rectangular embroidered item"

US universities, fraternities and schools

The colours of George Washington University and Hamilton College are buff and blue, modelled on the military uniform of General George Washington and the Continental Army. Both General Washington and Alexander Hamilton, as chief of staff, had a role in the design of the uniforms.

Other school colours described as "buff and blue" include Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., and Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Buff is one of three colours of the Alpha Gamma Delta fraternity, and one of two colours of the Delta Chi fraternity.

File:George Washington by Peale 1776.jpg|General Washington wearing the buff and blue File:George_Washington_University.jpg|George Washington University banners featuring the buff and blue George Washington Athletics logo.svg|The buff and blue logo of the George Washington Revolutionaries

US state flags

The flags of Delaware, New Jersey and Indiana, and the former flags of New York and Maine, officially feature buff.

File:Flag of Delaware.svg| The flag of Delaware has "a background of colonial blue surrounding a diamond of buff" File:Flag of New Jersey.svg| The flag of New Jersey has "the State seal ... in Jersey blue on a buff background" File:Flag of Indiana.svg| The flag of Indiana has "nineteen stars and a flaming torch in gold or buff." File:Flag of New York (1778-1901).svg| Former flag of New York (1896–1901) File:Flag of Maine (1901–1909).svg| Former flag of Maine (1901–1909)

Political usage

The colours of the Whig Party, a British political faction, and later political party, as well as the American Whig Party, were buff and blue.

White Star buff

The funnels of the RMS Titanic and all other ships of the White Star Line were designated to be "buff with a black top" in order to indicate their ownership. There is some uncertainty among experts, however, as to the exact shade of what is now called "White Star buff". There is no surviving paint or formula, and although there are many painted postcards and at least seven colour photographs of White Star liners, the shades of the funnels in these varies due to many factors including the conditions under which they were originally made and the ageing of the pigments in which they were printed. Speaking mostly to scale modellers, the Titanic Research and Modelling Association currently recommend a colour "in the range of the Marschall color", meaning the colour in illustrations in a particular book.

As a relatively inexpensive and readily available paint colour, and one which went well alongside the near-universal black hull and white superstructure used on steamships at the time, White Star was far from the only shipping line to use a shade of buff as a funnel colour. The Orient Line and Norddeutscher Lloyd used an entirely buff funnel without the black top, while Canadian Pacific and the Swedish American Line employed a buff funnel with a representation of the company's house flag on them. The Bibby Line and the Fyffes Line are two of several firms to use the same "buff with a black top" scheme as White Star, but with a similar lack of certainty as to the exact shade used and how this differed from the famous White Star scheme.

In Canadian heraldry

As well as being a colour used by the United States Army Institute of Heraldry, buff is also recognised as a tincture by the Canadian Heraldic Authority. It appears on the heraldic badge and flag of the Correctional Service of Canada.

References

References

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12. (May 2024). "buff, adj.1". OUP.
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16. Barnhart, Robert K.. (1995). "The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology: The Origins of American English Words". Harper Collins.
17. [http://www.legeros.com/fire/buff.shtml Robert W. Masters "What is a Fire Buff?", ''Pictorial History of Firefighting'', revised edition, 1967]; [http://www.racinefirebells.org/rfbc-firebuff.html Steve Hanson, "Fire buffs: who are they?"] {{Webarchive. link. (14 July 2014 .)
18. (11 December 2023). "The meaning and origin of the expression: In the buff". The Phrase Finder.
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28. (12 November 2020). "Correctional Service of Canada [Civil Institution]". The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General.