Federal Standard 595

June 28, 2024 1:45 PM

In these few short years, America’s newly opening landscapes—residential, rural, and the fastest routes between them—were given a visual identity by the federal government. If olive drab and its ilk were the colors of Tom Brokaw’s Greatest Generation, then the hues of the first revision were those of America’s well-branded internal expansion. Every mailbox, park sign, and highway mile-marker was another tiny flag planted by a growing nation, proclaiming its new success with the same methods and military sensibility that had recently secured it a starring role on the international stage. Though they’re brighter and friendlier, the colors and rules that dictated the look of American infrastructure’s mid-century boom are every bit as ordered as a dispatch from the Quartermaster Corps. from Americhrome [The Morning News]

AMS Standard 595

posted by chavenet (8 comments total)

paint under every Rock
spray every Brown blade of grass green.
posted by clavdivs at 1:55 PM on June 28 [2 favorites]

Ooh, this is already a fun read! Amazing how some of the colors automatically trigger my brain into recognizing - solely by the color - a US Forest Service sign, for instance. Unfortunately, I retired from the US military in 2007 - while 33446 had long been worn by many in the service, my particular units never mandated it, so I never got to wear it. I just love that color.
posted by davidmsc at 2:49 PM on June 28 [1 favorite]

I know one can right-click and inspect, but the Hex/RGB values should've been put on each tile with a copy button.

Otherwise: cool!
posted by JoeXIII007 at 5:18 PM on June 28 [1 favorite]

Neat article!
posted by suelac at 5:56 PM on June 28 [1 favorite]

Fascinating article. This is what I come to Metafilter for!
posted by marxchivist at 10:02 PM on June 28 [1 favorite]

Thanks for this post, it is a fascinating read. I have always wondered about the government's use of color and and it is nice to get an answer.
posted by mumimor at 4:48 AM on June 29 [2 favorites]

So, like RAL, only different. Sigh.
posted by scruss at 10:37 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]

The bit at the end about food relief airdrops and bombs sharing similar shades of yellow for a while was pretty grim.
posted by straight at 6:41 PM on June 29