Do the Classic Space uniform colors mean anything?

[KDog]

I was looking at the Polaris I Space Lab set today ( http://brickset.com/detail.aspx?Set=6972-1 ) and thought it strange that all three minifig astronauts in the set had blue uniforms. This was in an era when most big sets had a combination of astronauts in different colors, which were blue, yellow, red, black and white. Granted, some medium-sized sets that came with two minifigs had them in the same color. I recall a few sets that had two yellow astronauts. Futuron eliminated the all-white astronauts but retained the other colors.

In any case, I wonder if Lego intended the different-colored uniforms to represent different departments, much like Star Trek did. In Star Trek - The Next Generation, command and engineering had red uniforms; security and ship's operations had tan uniforms; and medical and science had blue uniforms. The Polaris I Space Lab seems to be a dedicated scientific research station, so perhaps blue represents the science field in Classic Space? Then again, the color of the minifigs might just have been more of a design choice by Lego. The mostly white Polaris I set has blue highlights and the three identical astronauts make it look really awesome.

[BerndDasBrot]

interessting observation. I never thought of that.

the chronological order was: yellow, red, white, black, blue. is this true?

I rebuilt my classic space sets a few weeks ago and paid attention to the right space uniform color for each set, but I can't tell any commonalities.

But I'm looking forward to any knowledge you'll gain!

[Siegfried]

The Polaris I Space Lab seems to be a dedicated scientific research station, so perhaps blue represents the science field in Classic Space?

It's a nice idea... but I doubt it. For example;

[WesternOutlaw]

Good question, and an interesting topic.

the chronological order was: yellow, red, white, black, blue. is this true?

Not exactly. Yellow came after white and red. White and red came out about the same time. Most of the first space sets had both.

I always understood Lego's choice to make white figs, but I never understood the red. Although I don't think Lego intended to depict different occupations by the color of their uniform, I always liked to use the reds for engineering and mechanical functions.

[adik_sa_lego]

maybe the red ones were cosmonauts? and Lego had a vision that one day, astronauts and cosmonauts would work together hand in hand, which goes in line with their anti-war model policy.

[snefroe]

well i did look into this color evolution a very long time ago and I believe that Lego added a large amount of blue guys in the last years of classic space. my guess is they did that because they wanted to get rid of the stocks... classic space was on its way out, after all...

[Hewman]

For me, the red and white having been around the longest are the senior astronauts, ie those that call the shots, not those that go to bed at 6 pm with their false teeth in a glass beside the bed. Within these, those with the thin chin straps are the most senior (again because this is older lego). The yellow being the most common and cheapest to purchase are your every day astronauts, the grunts that have to do all the work. The blacks being newish and dark are the talented but sometimes rebellious young bucks that like to play by their own rules. The blues fall somewhere between the yellows and blacks. Wow, i think way too much about my lego men.

To complicate it further I have some custom light gray, dark gray, green, medium blue and dark purple classic space figs, I have no idea where these fit into the hierarchy, although it cost a lot to get the parts for the old light gray figs, so those two have to rank pretty highly.

Edited July 21, 2008 by hewman

[Foreman]

yes they's somewhere on the internet that says (but I can't find where) that black are spies, blue is security, white are scientists, red are pilots and yellows are explorers, but since I can't find the source it might be misleading 

edit: Here's the full story and correct one Jens Nygaard Knudsen, "the red and white spacemen started as Cosmonauts and Astronauts. Later they became red pilots and white explorers, yellow were introduced as scientists, blue as security/soldiers, black as spies." https://speculativeidentities.com/research/space

now what do the futuron colors mean since they don't have white

Edited May 7, 2018 by Foreman
corectin infomation and giving link

[Space Police XVIII]

Just curious, what's the record for thread necromancy? 

This is almost ten years, I am impressed.

[axaday]

I started Lego right at the tail end of Classic Space transitioning into Futuron, so it is Futuron that I look to.  A while back I took down the ratios of the 3 Futuron colors and looked at the sorts of sets they were in and became very comfortable with the notion that they were copying the colors from Star Trek: The Next Generation.  If you buy one of each set, you get 3 Reds.  Pretty rare, which I didn't realize when I was a kid because I had several of the minifig packs, but outside of that you only get two of them at the Cosmic Laser Launcher.  I believe they are command.  Black are actually exactly as rare, appearing one each in three sets.  And it isn't a really strong case, but one of them is a Laser Ranger and the color would later be coopted by Space Police, so I figure them to be security.  You'd get 7 Blues and never with a weapon.  They usually come with a robot.  I regard them as scientists.  The great bulk of the men are Yellows. You get 16 Yellow.  That's more than half.  I regard them as Operations.  They pilot the ships and maintain the fleet.

[Blip]

I had a similar take when I started tinkering with LDD; redefining the division colors for my own models:

White - Command & Control

Red - Pilots and Drivers

Yellow - Engineers

Blue - Scientists

Green - Medical Technicians

Dark Grey - Security