Everyone knows that blue shirts are scientists and medical personnel, gold shirts are the command crew, and red shirts always die in Star Trek. William Shatner’s Captain Kirk has a signature gold shirt as the captain of the Enterprise, and the costume has become part of his iconography.
While gold is the show’s signature now, it was reportedly not colored that way in real life. According to costume designer Bill Theiss, the original color of the costume was green, and it looked gold because of studio lights and film stock. The green can be later seen in the tunics worn by the Enterprise crew.
Why does William Shatner’s shirt look gold on screen in Star Trek?
Is the dress black and blue, or white and gold? Most remember this viral meme from 2015, where the Internet was divided on the color of a dress, as many saw it in two distinct pairs of colors. The meme led to countless conversations and theories on human color perception and the way light works. The same thing was what was happening with Star Trek’s costumes.
Fans have always seen William Shatner as Captain Kirk in the signature gold shirt. While the movies made him put on the red (Red shirts always die), he was almost always seen in gold, much like the command crew. The color of the uniforms had its own significance within the Star Trek world, but it was also a production issue.
According to the late costume designer Bill Theiss, who was the main designer behind the entire franchise’s costumes, the command colors were actually green in real life but were seen as gold due to lighting. He said (via Star Trek Prop Authority),
It was one of those film stock things; it photographed one way – burnt orange or a gold. But in reality was another; the command shirts were definitely green.
The actual green that Theiss intended can be seen in the wrap-around tunics worn by the crew in later episodes of the show.
William Shatner’s Captain Kirk wore green in the comics
Colors on a film set are intrinsically linked with the camera and the lights. Any slight change in the hue or tone of the light can make drastic changes on camera, and the meaning can be changed. The color is also defined by the metrics of the film stock used (in the pre-digital era) and the color correction done in post-production.
Costume designer Bill Theiss originally made William Shatner’s costume green, but due to studio lights and the film stock used (reportedly Eastman Kodak), the shirt showed up as gold while being broadcast. While Theiss initially tried to increase the green shade in later costumes, the gold shirt became the standard for commanding officers.
However, the green was not entirely done away with. Apart from the hilarious wrap-around tunics (which made a comeback in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds), the green was kept in the comic adaptation of the show. A Tumblr user found plenty of examples that showed the command crew wearing green.
Fans have gotten used to the colors of the crew now, with blue, red, and gold being the standard for the series. While the intention may have been green, the present colors are not that bad.
Star Trek is available to stream on Paramount+.
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