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Many characters have appeared in two colors.

Examples:

Red and Gold

  • Worf -- entire seasons in each
  • La Forge -- entire seasons in each
  • Data -- red in several episodes, e.g. "Future Imperfect"
  • Wesley Crusher -- yellow in "Parallels"
  • O'Brien -- red in first season
  • Sito Jaxa -- cadet red and security
  • Thomas Riker -- red in "Defiant"

Red and Blue

  • Picard -- blue in "Tapestry"
  • Dr. Crusher -- red in "All Good Things"

Red and gold are pretty common and blue is harder to collect.

Has any character ever appeared in all three colors?
(or even the unlikely gold/blue combination for that matter)?

Clarification: For characters that appeared in different uniform generations, colors are interpreted as equivalent if the color change was due to changes in uniforms. For example, TOS-era command gold and TNG-era command red count as the same. There were widely varying uniforms and colors in the various TOS-era films.

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ThePopMachine
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    +1. Any particular reason this is tagged as star-trek-voyager? Also, are we focusing on TNG-era? – Praxis Aug 18 '15 at 14:46
  • I guess Sito had a red/black Academy jumpsuit and then later a gold officer's uniform. – Praxis Aug 18 '15 at 14:49
  • @Praxis: Yes, I've always assumed the cadet uniforms counted as red division, although I guess it could be debated whether that is 'command division'. Is there any evidence pro or con? (At any rate, there's no debate they are red) – ThePopMachine Aug 18 '15 at 14:54
  • http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=191002 – JohnP Aug 18 '15 at 14:54
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    @JohnP: Nice find, but this seems to be focused on the actors and not the characters. But maybe the answer is in there? – ThePopMachine Aug 18 '15 at 14:57
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    Sisko wore yellow and Dax wore red in DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations" - just to add to your list. – Jack B Nimble Aug 18 '15 at 14:57
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    @JackBNimble But the title says "three division uniform colors", they didn't switch divisions, the division colors changed between the TOS and DS9 eras. Yes, this is some extreme geek nit picking. – mu is too short Aug 18 '15 at 17:12
  • I found a tripod link that said there was a continuity error in the end of the original movie where McCoy and Spock wore the others uniform accidentally, can't find photo though. Most I can find is four. – JohnP Aug 18 '15 at 17:22
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    According to this chart TOS Movies have 6 divisions available, each with a different color. – JohnP Aug 18 '15 at 17:36
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    @muistooshort - actually, Dax wearing red would be switching Divisions. Sciences was always blue, and Dax's normal color is blue. So by wearing read she switched from DS9 Sciences to TOS Operations. – Omegacron Aug 18 '15 at 17:49
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    @Omegacron: Right, Dax did end up in ops-red (switching colors and divisions). The others stayed in their divisions though. – mu is too short Aug 18 '15 at 17:57
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    The academy uniform really doesn't count, IMHO. – Valorum Aug 18 '15 at 18:02
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    I was sure this was a dupe; can't find it though – Lightness Races in Orbit Aug 18 '15 at 23:38
  • Brent spiner in a blue uniform; http://fashionablygeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/brent-spiner-spock-fresh-hell-600x328.jpg – Valorum Aug 19 '15 at 00:17
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    This question has issues, I think. Maybe it should have been "Which character has been part of the most divisions?" or "Which character has appeared with the most uniform colors?" but not both since color meanings have changed over time. It's too late to fix it, as all your answerers are talking about "command red", "security gold", etc. But I saw that answer from @JohnP yesterday which I guess he had to delete; I don't see it now. But he obviously had trouble interpreting the question. (I'm not gonna downvote, just saying this could have been a lot tighter.) –  Aug 19 '15 at 15:41
  • @T-5000: Yeah, well, as can happen, the question seemed straight forward when I asked it and then you get embroiled in technicalities as people come up with answers. I can add a clarifying sentence. See the edit. – ThePopMachine Aug 19 '15 at 15:45
  • Unfortunately this question is now protected, so I can't post another answer; but Tom Paris (voy) has a red uniform in most episodes, gold in the episode "Worst case scenario", and blue in "Author, Author" – Jave Aug 21 '15 at 06:48
  • @JohnP: Your link denied hotlinks. Can you provide it another way? – ThePopMachine Aug 23 '15 at 05:24
  • @ThePopMachine - Try this link (Original linked image is the upper left) – JohnP Aug 23 '15 at 16:21
  • @Jave: I have unprotected the question. If this is true for a modern(TNG)-era Star Trek character without being some obscure corner case, I would like to see that answer. I am unable to find an image of Paris in a blue/teal uniform. – ThePopMachine Feb 08 '23 at 16:30

7 Answers7

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Kyle:

Operations (TOS: "Wolf in the Fold"):

Kyle in red

Sciences (TOS: "Space Seed", "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"):

Kyle in blueKyle in movie sciences gear

Command (TOS: "The Immunity Syndrome"):

Kyle in gold

Sulu:

Sciences (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before"):

Sulu in blue

Command (TOS: "Arena", "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country"):

Sulu in goldSulu in command white

Operations (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror", "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" publicity shot):

Mirror Sulu in red Sulu in operations gold

Chekov:

Command (TOS: "Spectre of the Gun"):

Chekov in gold

Sciences ("Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country"):

Chekov in movie science colors

Operations ("Star Trek: The Motion Picture", "Star Trek Into Darkness") (the grey backing on the Starfleet / Enterprise insignia indicates Operations / Security in the TMP uniform):

TMP Chekov Into Darkness Chekov

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Politank-Z
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68

I'm gonna go for the EMH. He appeared in both the Blue and Red uniforms in the main series and his diagnostic subroutine (arguably a part of the EMH package of programs) appeared in a yellow uniform in Voy: The Swarm.

As @sidney has pointed out, the Diagnostic Program was ultimately grafted onto the EMH prior to the other two photos below, meaning that all three are essentially the same character.

enter image description here

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Valorum
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    Very nice. +1 "I'm a doctor, not a fashion model." – Praxis Aug 18 '15 at 17:57
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    The diagnostic subroutine is a bit of a stretch. It was more meant to represent Dr. Zimmerman himself, than an actual extension of the EMH, even though technically it may have been a part of the whole EMH program bundle. – Iszi Aug 18 '15 at 18:18
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    @Iszi - You've hit the nail on the head. The Recovery Disk is part of Windows, not an entirely separate program. – Valorum Aug 18 '15 at 18:27
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    I don't know, I mean, he's got that messy hair to represent basically a different character. The EMH would remember everything the ECH did as actions by himself with new aptitudes. Would he remember what the diagnostic subroutine did as 'himself' ? – ThePopMachine Aug 18 '15 at 19:08
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    The diagnostic program was of a completely separate matrix, which was a crucial plot point in that episode. I don't think we can count Zimmerman's hologram as the EMH here. – Lightness Races in Orbit Aug 18 '15 at 23:40
  • The quote from the episode is that "This programme contains a sophisticated diagnostic matrix specifically created for the Emergency Medical system". It seems to have been bundled into the overall EMH package. Word might not be the same program as Excel, but they're part of the same "suite" of programs. – Valorum Aug 19 '15 at 00:07
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    Considering the diagnostic program was eventually "grafted" on to The Doctor, it could be argued that it was not the doctor but actually the diagnostic program that has at some time been part of all three divisions, although it's a bit of a stretch. – Sidney Aug 19 '15 at 16:01
  • @sidney - That's a really, really good point – Valorum Aug 19 '15 at 16:57
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Spock

One character who sports multiple colours is Spock. He usually appears in science blue:

enter image description here

But here he is with command gold in the first episode of TOS, "Where No Man Has Gone Before":

enter image description here

Out-of-universe, they hadn't settled on his uniform yet. But in-universe, it's completely compatible with the fact that he is both First Officer and Chief Science Officer, and so he is in two divisions at once.

And now here he is in red in The Wrath of Khan:

enter image description here

Of course, all Starfleet officers of that era wear red jackets, but Spock's uniform here is adorned with command-level brass, as he is the Captain of the Enterprise in this particular screenshot.

In a sense, command-level is white in the film era, designated by the white turtleneck beneath the jacket and the white shoulder strap.

In contrast, medical officers like McCoy have a dull green turtleneck and strap. Saavik is a lieutenant junior grade, and her red turtleneck and strap coincide with this. Engineers have gold turtlenecks and straps.

enter image description here

So one can say that Spock is seen with three colours: gold, blue, and white.

Now, that's three colours but only two divisions, since gold from TOS and white from the film era have the same meaning.

However, since the original question question cites Sito Jaxa's red Academy jumpsuit as a divisional colour (indeed, Starfleet Academy is considered to be the fourth division), here is Spock with his charcoal instructor's uniform from the 2009 film:

enter image description here

So that makes for blue (science), gold / white (command), and charcoal (Academy instructor).

Wesley Crusher

Counting the Academy as a Starfleet division makes Wesley Crusher another candidate, as @ThePopMachine points out. Wesley wears command red, operations gold, and his red-topped Academy jumpsuit, all in TNG:

enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

We also see Wesley in his grey acting ensign uniform, although it is unclear which "division" it designates (if any).

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Praxis
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  • What about the grey with the ribbed collar that he wore as an acting ensign? Technically acting ensign is a rank. There were a lot of wartime promotions that were "acting" or "Brevet" until confirmed by central command, but they had full rights and privileges of said rank. – JohnP Aug 18 '15 at 19:50
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    @JohnP : That's a good point. I'm not certain which "division" acting ensign falls into, but I'll definitely add an image. Thanks. – Praxis Aug 18 '15 at 19:59
  • @JohnP: I was never sure whether that was supposed to be a uniform at all. We never saw anyone else with that grey jumpsuit, and Wesley did wear other uniform-like clothes with colored shoulder pieces. For all we know, differently-colored shoulder pieces might have been just the fashion at that time (maybe even either inspired by Starfleet uniforms or vice-versa). So, maybe those were simply his civilian clothes? – O. R. Mapper Aug 19 '15 at 12:38
  • @O.R.Mapper - I agree, but how many other acting ensigns were there? – JohnP Aug 19 '15 at 14:47
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    @JohnP: Well, statistically, shouldn't we have seen one at some point during all the years? Or at least someone who, in some way, has a similar status as Wesley? Yet, no-one was ever seen wearing any uniform remotely similar to Wesley's outfit. Rather than assume that Starfleet has a uniform type that is unlike everything else we have ever seen in that timeframe (and that has never been proven to be "uniform" across any group of people), the suspicion that it is simply a modest civilian outfit manifests itself. – O. R. Mapper Aug 19 '15 at 14:50
  • I don't recall, which color jumpsuit did Spock wear in TMP? – Xantec Aug 25 '15 at 22:50
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    @Xantec : He comes aboard with Vulcan robes, but then switches to a baby blue jumpsuit. – Praxis Aug 25 '15 at 22:54
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Lt. Leslie

Lt. Who What Now?

Lt. Leslie has served as *deep breath*... Duty Officer, Engineer, Helm Officer, Medical Assistant, Navigator, Science Officer and Security Officer. He appeared in 57 TOS episodes and has the remarkable ability to return from the dead several times (or Dr. McCoy was drunk when he pronounced him dead) and quickly change uniforms and duties within a few minutes.

Blue / Sciences (TOS: Where No Man Has Gone Before)
enter image description here

Red / Operations (TOS: The Squire Of Gothos)
enter image description here

Gold / Command (TOS: The Changeling)
enter image description here

Out of universe, Lt. Leslie is obviously the result of TOS reusing the same stable of actors and not paying close attention to continuity. In universe, Lt. Leslie appears to have some very remarkable qualities leading to some theories that he's actually several people or a remarkable alien or a quick change artist or an incredible savant.

And yes, he does have lines and is named on screen.

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Q.

Appears in red in numerous episodes of TNG and Voyager, in yellow in "Hide and Q" and in blue in the Paramount-licensed video game Star Trek: Borg.

enter image description here

Valorum
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  • What's the canonicity of Star Trek: Borg? – ThePopMachine Aug 23 '15 at 05:21
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    @ThePopMachine - Unusually high. It was written by Hilary Bader (who wrote numerous episodes of trek), directed by James Conway (who directed several episodes of Voyager) and used the original voyager sets. Also, the entire cast are Trek actors and the game received an audio book conversion directed by Jonathan Frakes. – Valorum Aug 23 '15 at 06:18
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Borg curious. Also http://www.old-games.com/download/6029/star-trek-borg – Zommuter Aug 27 '16 at 19:01
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Most likely not, but technically - Wesley Crusher.

Wesley Crusher

Picard in tapestry was an alternate time line, so I would not count that.

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    I love it. You are technically correct, the best kind of correct. – Valorum Apr 07 '17 at 12:36
  • By the same same token, you might also want to consider Trip and Tom Paris – Valorum Apr 07 '17 at 12:38
  • No to @Valorum. I mean, I like the tricky answer, but you can't call it technically correct in light of the clear clarification at the end of the question. Nice try, though. (If we allow answers based on a technical reading of only the question and not the body, then it opens up all kinds of tricky answers. I know. I'm no fun. But you try to be technical, you get technical back.) – ThePopMachine Apr 07 '17 at 17:30
  • Did we really wear such outfits in the 80's? I have vague memories that I think I may have intentionally suppressed. – Robert Columbia Aug 14 '21 at 10:23
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Tom Paris

Usually wears the red Command uniform:

Tom Paris wearing red uniform

In the episode "Worst Case Scenario (s3e25)" he wears the Gold operations uniform:

Tom Paris wearing gold uniform

And in the episode "Author, Author (s7e20) he wears the Blue science uniform (technically in a holonovel):

Tom Paris wearing blue uniform

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