Drab (color)
Term for cloths with specific colors such as dull browns, yellowish, or gray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Drab is a dull, light-brown color.[1] It originally took its name from a fabric of the same color made of undyed, homespun wool. The word was first used in English in 1686.[2] It probably originated from the Old French word drap, which meant cloth.[1] In 1897 the Sears catalog listed household paint colors including drab, light drab, Quaker drab, and olive drab.[3]
By 1921, the color Drab was associated with potential, clairvoyance, instinct, precocity, and genius.[4] The normalized color coordinates for drab are identical to sand dune, mode beige and bistre brown, which were first recorded as color names in English, respectively, in 1925,[5] 1928,[6] and 1930.[7]
The word gradually came to mean dull, lifeless, or monotonous.
Drab (cloth)
Drab was a term used for cloths with specific colors such as dull browns, yellowish or gray. The Drab of heavy woolen was produced in Yorkshire, England. It was a thick, sturdy structure used for overcoating.[8][9]
In military uniforms
Several shades of drab have been used for military uniforms, including the above-mentioned light-brown color. The greenish shades of drab, known as olive drab, were used as the colors of the U.S. Army uniforms and equipment during World War II.
