Crimson & Teal & Navy

Crimson is the scarlet tunic — the deep vivid crimson of the Royal Marines' full-dress scarlet tunic. The Royal Marines (established as the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot in 1664, originally for service aboard Royal Navy ships as naval infantry — currently with a strength of approximately 6,700 personnel as the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare force) wear the most spectacular full-dress military uniform in the British armed forces: a deep vivid crimson-to-scarlet tunic (the 'redcoat' — the most immediately recognizable British military uniform colour, associated with the British Army from the mid-17th through the early 20th century and maintained in the ceremonial uniforms of the Household Division and the Royal Marines to the present day) with white cross-belt and blue facings (collar and cuffs), worn with a blue and gold-laced peaked cap for officers or a bearskin-style helmet for specific ceremonial duties. The specific scarlet-to-crimson of the Royal Marines dress tunic: the dye used in British military 'scarlet' (the official term for the uniform color — though it is typically perceived as a vivid crimson-to-scarlet rather than pure spectral scarlet) was, until the late 19th century, produced using kermes dye (Kermes vermilio — the Mediterranean scale insect — producing a deep vivid crimson-to-scarlet) or cochineal (Dactylopius coccus — the South American scale insect — imported into Britain from approximately 1526 — producing a very vivid, slightly more orange-shifted scarlet). The current synthetic equivalent is typically a deep vivid crimson-to-tomato-red. Teal is the Solent — the dark vivid teal of the Solent (the stretch of water between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight — approximately 30 km long, 3-5 km wide — one of the most heavily trafficked waterways in the world and the most historically significant British naval anchorage). The specific teal of the Solent: the Solent's water color is determined by: (1) The relatively shallow depth of the western Solent (10-20 meters in most areas) — allowing bottom reflectance to contribute; (2) The high tidal flow (the Solent has an unusual double-high-tide pattern, caused by the tidal wave splitting around the Isle of Wight — creating four tides per day rather than the standard two, with very strong tidal currents that keep the water well mixed); (3) The moderate turbidity (the Solent has moderate suspended sediment from tidal resuspension) — which shifts the water color from pure blue towards the teal-to-blue-green range. Navy is the officer uniform — the very deep dark navy of the Royal Navy officer's dress uniform (blues — the full-dress dark navy blue uniform of Royal Navy officers). The naval blue uniform: the Royal Navy officer's blue uniform was formally adopted approximately 1748 (Admiralty Order, April 1748 — establishing the dark navy-blue as the standard officer's uniform color — the choice of dark blue was reportedly made because it was the most practical color for sea service, concealing tar and rope-marking stains — but it may also have been influenced by the dark blue associated with the sea and sky, and possibly by the dark blue uniform of the Dutch naval officer tradition). The most celebrated Royal Navy admiral's uniform: the uniform worn by Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805 — the most celebrated British naval officer in history, killed at the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805) at Trafalgar was the full-dress navy-blue uniform of a Vice-Admiral of the White (the 'white' referring to the squadron designation — the Royal Navy was divided into three squadrons: Red, White, and Blue — with officers designated accordingly).