In Star Wars: A New Hope, why was one officer dressed in white?

Question

This character appears in Star Wars: A New Hope aboard the Death Star during an admirals meeting.

It appears he is wearing a white (possibly ivory) uniform. All the other officers wear gray, black, or olive (I am not sure what the official colors are). I do not recall any other officer of the Empire wearing a uniform like this...

Who is this suave gentleman, and why was he wearing white?

Uncle Harry? Is that you? Why did you leave Auntie Margaret and the kids? WHY?! — John Sensebe, May 12 '16 at 14:01
Count Dooku's offspring obviously. Beards went out of style. — Raystafarian, May 13 '16 at 16:50
He didn't receive the announcement for the "uniform of the day" until he arrived on the Death Star. So he was still in his "dress whites" from 3 days earlier. He may have traveled through hyperspace for so long, that he went 3 days into the future and arrived at the date in 0 BBY when the Death Star was destroyed. — Frank Rendar, Jan 24 '21 at 23:37

score 50 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

50

Wullf Yularen

Wullf Yularen was an admiral for the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars and later a colonel in the Galactic Empire's Imperial Security Bureau. He was eventually promoted to Deputy Director of the Naval Intelligence Agency. Yularen was one of the officers assigned to the Death Star.

....

Behind the scenes

Wullf Yularen first appeared as an unnamed background character in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, played by Robert Clarke, and he was given the name Wullf Yularen by the Star Wars Legends card game Star Wars Customizable Card Game. Yularen would later be adopted by the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series as a recurring character.

I haven't found any explanation of why he's wearing a different uniform, but it might be tied to his position as Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence much as with the United State "Full Whites" naval uniform. Different division, different uniform. You can see him with someone else with the same uniform here from A New Hope. Out of universe, the real answer is probably closer to why there was a wolf-man and a person in a recognizable Gemini suit. Low budget, so they grabbed what costumes they could.

edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

Community

1

answered May 12 '16 at 12:35

FuzzyBoots

223,803
23
680
1,039

But why is he wearing white? – Valorum May 12 '16 at 12:37
5

@Richard Unknown, although I added my speculation on the potential ties to US Navy "Full Dress Whites". The real answer is probably closer to why there was a wolf-man and a person in a recognizable Gemini suit. Low budget, so they grabbed what costumes they could. – FuzzyBoots May 12 '16 at 12:41
2

I saw that second picture now too, and the other man is also described as a member of the ISB. I wonder if all ISB members wore white? – Skooba May 12 '16 at 12:48
3

@Skooba - Yes, although it appears to be a retcon. – Valorum May 12 '16 at 13:11
Why did you spell his last name "Ularen"? Is that an alternate spelling I haven't seen? Every source I'm aware of (including the Wookieepedia article you quote) spells it "Yularen". – Null May 12 '16 at 13:52
@FuzzyBoots you mean there was someone wearing a Gemini spacesuit...? That'd be odd because Star Wars notably doesn't care that much about the vacuum of space. – chx May 12 '16 at 13:55
2

A mistake at the dry cleaners? – John Sensebe May 12 '16 at 14:02
@Null: Typo on my part. – FuzzyBoots May 12 '16 at 14:17
@chx: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/80002/what-evidence-is-there-that-proves-disproves-there-was-a-gemini-earth-astronaut – FuzzyBoots May 12 '16 at 14:17
And with that Photo they now also need to come up with a in universe reason why those red and blue badges they wear are not attached the same way around... – kratenko May 12 '16 at 14:20
@FuzzyBoots That's what I thought, but Richard appears to have copied your typo. – Null May 12 '16 at 14:20
Wow, it's hard to imagine the Yularen from the Clone Wars would stand to be a part of the Empire and its tactics. – TylerH May 12 '16 at 14:39
@TylerH: The guy who voiced him in Clone Wars compared him to General Rommel, a WW2 officer who was opposed to the Nazi ideals, but was patriotic to Germany. – FuzzyBoots May 12 '16 at 14:50
Wait, so first he was an admiral, then he was demoted to colonel, then promoted to deputy director? – May 13 '16 at 16:41
@Michael: There was a switch of forms of government. A demotion until they're certain of his loyalty would not be unexpected. – FuzzyBoots May 13 '16 at 17:17
Also, what is a "Navy" in the context of the Empire – Nick Mertin May 14 '16 at 00:11
@MagikM18: The people who fly the spaceships. :) http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Imperial_Navy – FuzzyBoots May 14 '16 at 03:14
I wonder given the Nazi imagery used for the Empire if his white uniform was not related to the use of such uniforms by various branches of the Nazi Governmnet such as Herman Göring. The characters rank of Admiral during the Clone Wars and later demotion to Colonel in a time of relative peace would not be unusual in the history of our world. Take George Armstrong Custer he was a Brevet Major General during the American Civil War but when hostilities ceased he was demoted to Lt. Colonel which he was at the time of the Battle of Little Horn. Many other such examples exist. – Sarriesfan Jun 19 '18 at 13:48
Sorry I got Custers history slightly wrong, he reverted to his normal rank of Captain at the end of the Civil War and later was promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel. – Sarriesfan Jun 19 '18 at 13:55

score 25 · Answer 2 · edited May 13 '16 at 15:12

25

As Fuzzyboots has correctly indicated, this individual is Admiral Wullf Yularen, later confirmed to be the Deputy Director of the Empire's Naval Intelligence Agency, the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB).

It appears that this uniform (white, rather than olive or grey) denotes that one is a member of this agency, as can be seen with other ISB agents in both Legends and Nu-Canon sources.

Interestingly, the decision that this uniform should denote a specific branch of the Imperial Service itself seems to be a retcon. In other media such as the Thrawn comics below, the white uniform appears is worn by two Grand Admirals (Thrawn and Takel), neither of who has any obvious connection to the ISB.

edited May 13 '16 at 15:12

Daniel Miller

629
7
13

answered May 12 '16 at 13:10

Valorum

689,072
162
4,636
4,873

2

Who is robot eye lady? – Peter May 12 '16 at 21:36
4

@Peter - Commander Alecia Beck ISB agent and full-on Imperial badass hottie with a heart of ice. – Valorum May 12 '16 at 21:40
Glad to see "Colonel" Yularen in the new Andor series! – Skooba Dec 29 '22 at 16:07

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered May 13 '16 at 15:25

The Imperial Security Bureau's uniforms are white tunics with black trousers. Grand Admirals(and presumably their Army counterparts) wear all white.

Interestingly Agent Kallus from the SW cartoon Rebels does not follow this convention, so that may have been changed OR his may be some kind of new field uniform.

Another side note the ISB managed the Empire's Secret Police and had a rivalry with Imperial Intelligence. Assuming all that wasn't retconned.

I assume you mean "some kind of old field uniform" since Rebels comes before A New Hope. — Valorum, May 13 '16 at 15:42

In Star Wars: A New Hope, why was one officer dressed in white?

3 Answers3

Linked