Red – Command
As I mentioned previously, the specific fabric hues evolved considerably over the course of the show.
However, the paradigm of division colors Theiss had established in season one remained unchanged.
“Red” primarily indicated command.
At least some adjutants to admirals also wore red, as evidenced by Commander Benteen (who was later promoted to captain and given a command of her own).
Side note – The Sisko also continued to wear red when he was made adjutant to Admiral Ross early in DS9’s sixth season.
Red – Helm
The majority of crew members we saw wearing “red” were the pilots/navigators at the helm – the most notable of whom was probably Ensign (later Lieutenant) Ro.
Although Ensign Ro was a proper guest character, Ensign Gates was actually seen far more often at the helm.
There were a few other recurring extras who flew the ship:
Whenever Ensign Ro, Ensign Gates, or the aforementioned recurring faces weren’t at the helm, a variety of other individuals flew the ship.
Redshirts!
Of course, “the curse of the redshirt” continued into the later seasons.
This continued to include an alarmingly high percentage of other starship captains we saw throughout the series.
Gold – Engineering
Gold represented engineering – the most notable guest characters probably having been Lieutenant D’Sora, Ensign Leffler, and Ensign Taurik.
Usually these gold-jumpsuit-wearing engineers just buzzed around in the background, though.
Gold – Operations
Gold was also for operations; whenever Data was elsewhere, the ops station was handled by many other gold-jumpsuit-wearing individuals.
This was the case on other starships, as well.
Gold – Transporters
“Gold” was also for transporter operators, of whom there were many when Chief O’Brien had the day off and after he transferred to DS9.
Ensign (Chief?) Hubbell appears to have made the most appearances, including briefly in the DS9 pilot.
Fun fact: real-life astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison played a transporter operator in the season six episode, “Second Chances.”
Plenty of other people were seen operating the transporters over the years.
Side note – some of these transporter operators seem to have been unhappy with their jobs.
Years later, on Deep Space Nine, Chief O’Brien asked Worf, “Have you any idea how bored I used to get sitting in the transporter room waiting for something to break down? Here … this station needs me.”
They did see some crazy stuff down there, though; these peoples’ expressions just say it all …
Gold – Tactical and Security
Of course, the quintessential “goldshirts” remained the tactical/security personnel – perhaps most notably, Ensign Sito.
There were again some recurring extras, including this lady:
This fellow filled in at the tactical station a few times, too.
Quite a few other people filled in whenever Worf wasn’t around.
Security officers kept watch over the brig, and those being held there.
They were tasked with standing guard around any potentially hostile guests, unstable situations, and sensitive areas of the ship.
It was also their responsibility to charge into any hostile, dangerous situations that might arise.
During the Changeling situation, security officers administered blood screenings (and other countermeasures).
Goldshirts!
Despite what the TNG writers seemed to think, Worf was a pretty smart guy and often had a possy of nameless “goldshirts” (or at least a sidekick) flanking him.
Nameless “goldshirts” were like lightning rods to enemy fire, exploding consoles, and physical harm in general.
Even with no enemy combatants around, there were still countless life-threatening workplace hazards, and many other terrible ways for nameless “goldshirts” to die!
In hindsight, one wonders if all that, “Today is a good day to die!” talk wasn’t so much of a catchphrase for Worf as it was him reminding all his security minions of the fine print in their job description …
Teal – Medical
Teal (also sometimes referred to as blue) was for the medical and scientific fields – the primary examples being Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi.
Nurse Ogawa was probably the most notable recurring character who wore the teal jumpsuit.
There was also this fellow, who was often Dr. Crusher’s (other?) sidekick:
He was actually in quite a few episodes, usually hanging around sickbay.
Just as engineering was “goldshirt central,” sickbay was where the teal uniforms were mostly seen.
(This was before the days of Voyager and Enterprise, when the entire medical staff consisted of just one person.)
Another notable guest character to wear the teal jumpsuit was Doctor Elizabeth Lense, chief medical officer on the Lexington and Bashir’s old Starfleet Academy rival.
Teal – Sciences
In the sciences, notable guest characters included Lieutenant Aquiel and Lieutenant Commander Darren – and of course Jadzia Dax wore the teal TNG jumpsuit when her character was introduced in the Deep Space Nine pilot.
Teal – Education
Like in the first episode of season two, there was at least one instance of a school teacher wearing the teal jumpsuit.
(Perhaps teachers could be either Starfleet crew or civilians?)
Teal – Annoying Characters
Also like the early seasons, teal was also a go-to color for annoying guest characters.
Teal – Injuries
While the red and gold divisions risked all means of horrific demise, teal continued to be a comparatively safe career path.
The worst thing teal-wearers risked was losing their dignity, or perhaps being caught in a career-ending lie.
There might be some other injuries here and there, but they were unlikely to be life-threatening.
