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In my previous question Why does Clone armor look like Mandalorian armor?

I used this picture

enter image description here

And it made me wonder what the colors meant Now I'm fairly certain they have to do with rank,

But what rank does each color corespond to? And if they don't have to do with rank then what do they mean?

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  • There are some troops that get to pick the color of their armor, so some could be a personal preference.
    – user45549
    Commented Mar 28, 2016 at 19:01
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    "At the beginning of the Clone Wars, Phase I battle armor used color to distinguish clone officers from each other and the rest of the rank-and-file stock. For instance, commanders were marked by yellow stripes; captains, lieutenants and sergeants were identified by red, blue and olive green respectively.. .. this system of military uniformity was relaxed during the early period of the war and color was used in some cases as a means for distinguishing unit affiliation instead of rank. .. many clone troopers ..particularly officers .. customized their uniforms through color and design"
    – Valorum
    Commented Mar 28, 2016 at 19:13
  • starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Clone_trooper/Legends
    – Valorum
    Commented Mar 28, 2016 at 19:13
  • @Richard Make that an answer
    – The Mandolorian
    Commented Mar 28, 2016 at 19:28
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    In the very much non canon video games Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2 the colors demarcate role. i.e. sniper, engineer, etc.
    – sevvack
    Commented Mar 28, 2016 at 19:34

2 Answers 2

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The clone armour colours are, so typically, not elaborated upon by Disney and we do not expect them to ever do so. So we will use the original, now Legends, companion resources to answer your questions.

Phase I clone armour is, following Kaminoan sense of aesthetics, pure white. The colour stripes you are asking about is used to indicate rank:

  • Pure white: Your generic buckethead
  • Olive green: Sergeant - Squad commander of 9
  • Blue: Lieutenant - Platoon commander of 4 squads
  • Red: Captain - Company commander of 4 platoons
  • Yellow: Commander - Regiment commander of 4 battalions of 4 companies each

Phase II Clone armour, on the other hand, follows the Jedi Order's drive to promote identity and camaraderie. Various colours and designs are used as unique identifiers of unit and belonging.

Example 1: Clone Commander Cody would have worn yellow stripes in Phase I armour, but in Phase II armour the entire 212th Attack Battalion used yellow.

enter image description here

Example 2: Clone Captain Rex would have worn red stripes in Phase I armour, but in Phase II armour the entire 501st Legion used blue.

enter image description here

Note that this applies only to regular, otherwise-white clone armour. Specialised armour are not subject to such variations due mostly to tactical constraints such as camouflage.

enter image description here

Most clone officers are further encouraged to demonstrate individuality by means of offering them most of the same equipment options as ARC Troopers in customising their loadout.

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  • It's worth mentioning the Phase 1 armor in The Clone Wars series too and its lack of keeping with this color convention.
    – TheIronCheek
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 19:37
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It's based on their unit and commanding generals.
Skywalker - Blue
Kenobi - Orange
Yoda - Red
etc.

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    Welcome to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and thanks for your first post! This seems basically in line with what the top-voted answer says, but it would seem to apply only for Phase II armor. Also, if the unit changes to another Jedi, do they change the color of their armor?
    – Adamant
    Commented Oct 30, 2016 at 6:24
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    Some references would also be useful in this answer. Was this mentioned in any canon work? Or are there photos that demonstrate this? Answers with references and explanation are particularly helpful and tend to get more upvotes.
    – Adamant
    Commented Oct 30, 2016 at 6:24

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