View source for Buff (colour)

{{Short description|Yellow-brown colour of the un-dyed leather of several animals}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox colour
|title=Buff
|image=File:Chamois-natural.jpg
|hex=DAA06D
|spelling=Colour
|source=Maerz and Paul
|isccname=Moderate orange yellow
}}

{| align="right"  style="clear: both;"
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{|
|+ Buff as an [[RYB color model|RYB]]  quaternary colour
|-
|{{legend|#DDD06A|citron}}
|-
|{{legend|#DAA06D|'''buff'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paintassistant.com/rybrgb.html|access-date=29 December 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628074235/http://www.paintassistant.com/rybrgb.html|archive-date=28 June 2013|title=Convertor from RYB to RGB|work=PaintAssistant}} RGB approximations of RYB tertiary colours, using cubic interpolation. The colours displayed here are substantially paler than the true colours a mixture of paints would produce.</ref>}}
|-
|{{legend|#E37D6E|russet}}
|}
|}

'''Buff''' ({{lang-la|bubalinus}})<ref>William T. Stearn. ''Botanical Latin.  History, Grammar Syntax, Terminology and Vocabulary.'' Third edition, revised. David & Charles, Newton Abbot, London 1990</ref><ref>E. Short, A. George. ''A Primer of Botanical Latin with Vocabulary.'' Cambridge University Press, 2013</ref> is a light [[Brown|brown]]ish [[Yellow|yellow]], [[Ochre|ochre]]ous colour, typical of [[Engineering:Buff leather|buff leather]].<ref>''The Oxford English Dictionary (OED).''  Second Edition (20 Volume Set). Clarendon Press, 1989</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Paterson|first=Ian|year=2003|publication-date=2004|title=A Dictionary of Colour|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionarycolour00pate|url-access=limited|edition=1st paperback|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionarycolour00pate/page/n80 73]|location=London|publisher=Thorogood|isbn=1-85418-375-3|oclc=60411025}}</ref> Buff is a mixture of yellow ochre and [[White|white]]:<ref>[https://archive.org/details/coloroflife00abborich/page/78/mode/2up A. G. Abbott. ''The color of life.'' 1947]</ref> two parts of [[Chemistry:White lead|white lead]] and one part of yellow ochre produces a good buff, or white lead may be tinted with French ochre alone.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/cyclopediaofpain00arms/page/110/mode/2up G. D. Armstrong. ''Cyclopedia of painting.'' 1908]</ref>

As an [[RYB color model|RYB]] quaternary colour, it is the colour produced by an equal mix of the tertiary colours [[Citron (color)|citron]] and [[Russet (color)|russet]].<ref>William J. Miskella, 1928, ''Practical Color Simplified: A Handbook on Lacquering, Enameling, Coloring And Painting''; John Lemos, 1920, "Color Charts for the School Room", in ''School Arts'', vol. 19, pp 580–584</ref>

==Etymology==
[[File:Standard Buff.jpg|thumb|Buff after A. Maerz<ref>[https://people.csail.mit.edu/jaffer/Color/M.htm A. Maerz, M. Rea Paul. ''A Dictionary of Color''. 1950]</ref>]] 
[[File:Standard buff.jpg|thumb|Standard buff after A. S. Jennings. <ref>[https://archive.org/details/gri_c00033125008636652/page/n57/mode/2up  A. S. Jennings. ''Paint and Colour Mixing. A Practical Handbook for Painters.'' 1906]</ref>]]
[[File:Buff after R. Ridgway.jpg|thumb|Buff after R. Ridgway.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/nomenclatureofco00ridg/page/n153/mode/2up R. Ridgway. ''A nomenclature of colors for naturalists - and compendium of useful knowledge for ornithologists.'' 1886.]</ref>]]
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".<ref>{{cite web|title=buff, adj.1|url=https://www.oed.com/Entry/24298|work=Oxford English Dictionary|publisher=OUP|access-date=21 April 2011}}</ref>  It referred to the colour of undyed buffalo leather, such as soldiers wore as some protection:<ref name="StClair">{{Cite book|title=The Secret Lives of Colour|last=St. Clair|first=Kassia|publisher=John Murray|year=2016|isbn=9781473630819|location=London|pages=242–243|oclc=936144129}}</ref> an eyewitness to the death in the Battle of Edgehill (1642) of Sir Edmund Verney noted "he would neither put on arms [armour] or [[Engineering:Buff coat|buff coat]] the day of the battle".<ref>Miriam Slater, ''Family Life in the Seventeenth Century: the Verneys of Claydon House'' 1984:11.</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k7cuCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA192|title=Going to the Wars: The Experience of the British Civil Wars 1638-1651|first=Charles|last=Carlton|date=2002|location=London and New York|publisher=Routledge|page=192|via=Google Books|isbn=9781134849352}}</ref> Such [[Engineering:Buff leather|buff leather]] was suitable for ''[[Engineering:Polishing|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.<ref name=Barnhart>{{cite book|last=Barnhart|first=Robert K.|title=The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology: The Origins of American English Words|year=1995|publisher=Harper Collins|location=New York|isbn=0-06-270084-7|pages=90}}</ref>

===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.<ref>[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?"].</ref>

"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.<ref>{{cite web|title=The meaning and origin of the expression: In the buff|url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/200300.html|work=The Phrase Finder}}</ref>

== In nature ==

=== Geology ===
Sand, rock, and [[Earth:Loess|loess]] tend to be buff in many areas.
<gallery widths="220" heights="160">
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 [[Earth:Loess|loess]]
</gallery>

=== Natural selection ===
Because buff is effective in [[Biology:Camouflage|camouflage]], it is often naturally selected. 
<gallery widths="220" heights="160">
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 [[Biology:Fungi|fungi]]
</gallery>
Many [[Biology:Species|species]] are named for their buff markings, including the [[Biology:Buff arches|buff arches moth]], the [[Biology:Buff-bellied climbing mouse|buff-bellied climbing mouse]], and at least sixty birds, including the [[Biology:Buff-fronted quail-dove|buff-fronted quail-dove]], the buff-vented bulbul, and the [[Biology:Buff-spotted flufftail|buff-spotted flufftail]].
<gallery widths="220" heights="160">
File:Nomascus-gabriellae.jpg|A pair of [[Biology:Northern buffed-cheeked gibbon|northern buffed-cheeked gibbon]]s
File:Buff-banded Rail LEI Jan08.jpg|The [[Biology:Buff-banded rail|buff-banded rail]]
File:Theristicus caudatus (Coclí) (5145728595).jpg|The [[Biology:Buff-necked ibis|buff-necked ibis]]
File:Tangara cayana1.jpg|The [[Biology:Burnished-buff tanager|burnished-buff tanager]]
</gallery>

== 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.
<gallery>
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)
</gallery>

===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.
<gallery>
File:ManilaPaper.jpg|Manila paper
File:SayilmisSecimZarflari.JPG|Buff envelopes
</gallery>

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

===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 [[Biology:Breed|breed]]s, and some, such as the Buff turkey, are specifically named "buff".

<gallery>
File:American Cocker Spaniel buff portrait.jpg|A buff gun dog
File:Shaded Tan Maine Coon cat.jpg|A buff mousing cat
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 [[Biology:Cultivar|cultivar]] 'Buff Beauty'.
</gallery>

=== 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".
<gallery>
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
</gallery>

====John Bull====
Clothing depicted on John Bull, a national personification of {{wipe|United Kingdom}} in general and {{wipe|England}} in particular,<ref>{{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/68195 | title=Bull, John (supp. fl. 1712–)|first=Miles |last=Taylor |orig-year=2004|edition=online|year=2006 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/68195}}</ref> in political cartoons and similar graphic works, has often been buff coloured.<ref name=BESTOFBRITISH>{{cite web|title=John Bull Running|url=https://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&rlz=1T4ADRA_enGB469GB469&biw=1920&bih=906&tbm=isch&tbnid=X6YqVFUcFRo09M:&imgrefurl=http://www.sterlingtimes.org/memorable_images10.htm&docid=DFmCDd7Vrrj_OM&imgurl=http://www.sterlingtimes.org/john_bull_image_yellow2.jpg&w=377&h=520&ei=4hcVUM34GOrO0QX9oICABg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1033&vpy=137&dur=2738&hovh=264&hovw=191&tx=130&ty=172&sig=104552773279781334442&page=1&tbnh=111&tbnw=81&start=0&ndsp=63&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0,i:111|publisher=Sterling Times|access-date=7 August 2012}}</ref> Bull's buff waistcoats, topcoats,<ref name=AngloMania>"AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion", Metropolitan Museum of Art (2006), exhibition brochure, p. 2.</ref> trousers<ref name=Matthews>{{cite web|last=Matthews|first=Stella|title=The Search for John Bull|url=http://www.sterlingtimes.org/memorable_images10.htm|publisher="Best of British" Magazine|access-date=7 September 2012|date=February 2000|quote=while the figure with which we're most familiar, the portly one resplendent in top hat, top boots, buff-coloured trousers, swallow-tailed coat, and sporting the British flag on his waistcoat, was the work of Sir Carruthers Gould as depicted in the ''Westminster Gazette'' in the late 1800s and early 1900s.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628195155/http://www.sterlingtimes.org/memorable_images10.htm|archive-date=28 June 2012}}</ref> and boot uppers<ref name=GoldPoster>{{cite web|title=John Bull and His Bulldog|url=http://www.goldposters.com/item-1872594/john-bull-and-his-bulldog.html|publisher=Gold Posters|access-date=7 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125204828/http://www.goldposters.com/item-1872594/john-bull-and-his-bulldog.html|archive-date=25 January 2013}}</ref> were typical of 18th- and 19th-century Englishmen.<ref name=AngloMania />

<gallery>
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
</gallery>

==== 17th-century military uniforms ====
{{cns|date=December 2022|text=Buff is a traditional European military uniform colour. Buff has good [[Biology:Camouflage|camouflage]] qualities as sand, [[Chemistry:Soil|soil]], and dry vegetation are buff in many areas. The term ''[[Engineering:Buff coat|buff coat]]'' refers to a part of 17th-century European military uniforms. Such coats were intended to protect the wearer, and the strongest and finest leathers tend to be buff, so the term "buff coats" came to refer to all such coats, even if the colour varied.}}

<gallery>
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
</gallery>

=====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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nam.ac.uk/research/famous-units/buffs-royal-east-kent-regiment|title=Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) - Famous Units - Research - National Army Museum, London}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Soldier of 3rd regiment 1742.jpg|Soldier of The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) wearing "a new Red Coat lin'd with a Buff colour'd lining, .... Breeches of the same colour as the Coat lining."
</gallery>

===U.S. Army===
The uniform of the American Continental Army was buff and blue.<ref name="StClair" />

Buff is the traditional colour of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps.

The U.S. 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.
<gallery>
File:Infantry, Continental Army, 1779-1783.jpg|Continental Army uniforms: "The Buff and Blue"
File:Chevron - Quartermaster Sergeant 1902-1909.png|US chevron - 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"
</gallery>

===U.S. 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.
<gallery>
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 Colonials logo.svg|The buff and blue logo of the George Washington University Colonials</gallery>

===U.S. state flags===
The flags of Delaware and New Jersey, and the former flags of New York and Maine, officially feature buff.

<gallery>
File:Flag of Delaware.svg|{{FIAV|normal}} The flag of Delaware includes "a background of colonial blue surrounding a diamond of buff"
File:Flag of New Jersey.svg|{{FIAV|normal}} The flag of New Jersey has "the State seal ... in Jersey blue on a buff background"
File:Flag of New York (1778-1901).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} Former flag of New York (until 1901)
File:Flag of Maine (1901–1909).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} The 1901 Maine Flag flown from 1901 to 1909
</gallery>

===Political usage===
The colours of the Whig Party, a British political faction, and later [[Social:Political party|political party]], as well as the American Whig Party, were buff and blue.<ref name="StClair" />
<gallery>
File:Le_coup_de_maitre.jpg|Depiction of the Whig Charles James Fox wearing buff and blue
</gallery>

===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 model|scale model]]lers, 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.<ref>The TRMA recommend the colour on found on "pp. 54, 60-61, and 67 of the new book Art of Titanic", presumably Ken Marschall's Art of Titanic 978-0786864553.</ref><ref name=TRMA>{{cite web|last=Braunschweiger, TRMA|first=Art|title=White Star Buff: Weighing the Evidence|url=http://titanic-model.com/articles/paints/WEBPAGE_Photographic%20Records%20of%20White%20Star%20Buff/White_Star_Buff_Weighing_the_Evidence.htm|publisher=Titanic Research and Modeling Association (TRMA)|access-date=28 July 2012|quote=An earlier version of this article appeared on the TRMA website in October 2004 under the title "Photographic and Illustrative Evidence of White Star Buff."  In December 2004, the article was rewritten under its present title to reflect new evidence and new debate on the subject since the writing of the original article.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012020153/http://titanic-model.com/articles/paints/WEBPAGE_Photographic%20Records%20of%20White%20Star%20Buff/White_Star_Buff_Weighing_the_Evidence.htm#|archive-date=12 October 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

As a relatively inexpensive and readily available paint colour, and one which went well alongside the near-universal black [[Engineering:Hull (watercraft)|hull]] and white [[Earth:Superstructure|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. 
<gallery>
File:Colorful Oceanic.jpg|Ships of the White Star Line, such as the [[Engineering:RMS Oceanic (1899)|RMS ''Oceanic'']] pictured here, and the ''Titanic,'' had buff funnels with black tops.
</gallery>

===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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://reg.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=1983&ShowAll=1|title=Correctional Service of Canada [Civil Institution]|first=The Office of the Secretary to the Governor|last=General|website=reg.gg.ca|date=12 November 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons}}
*List of colours
*Beige, a similar colour
*[[Fallow (color)|Fallow]]
*[[Tan (color)|Tan]], a slightly darker, redder colour
*[[Tawny (color)|Tawny]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Shades of brown|Buff}}
{{Shades of yellow|Buff}}
{{Shades of orange|Buff}}
{{Heraldry}}
[[Category:Shades of brown]]
[[Category:Shades of yellow]]
[[Category:Shades of orange]]
hi:भूरा#बादामी

{{Sourceattribution|Buff (colour)}}