The police is identified not only with its work but also with the 'khaki' uniform. This is why we recognise policemen from a distance. The true identity of the Indian Police uniform is its khaki colour. Every policeman loves his uniform very much.
It is not that the police of every place wears only the khaki color uniform. The Kolkata Police still wears white uniforms, while the West Bengal Police wear khaki uniforms. But have you ever wondered why the color of police uniform is only khaki? Why is it not given any other color? Let's find out.
When Britishers came to India, the uniforms of the Indian Police Department used to be white-coloured instead of khaki. But the problem with the white-coloured uniform was that it used to get dirty quickly during long duty. Due to this, the police had to face a lot of problems.
Later, the British officers came up with a plan to change the uniform. During this time the police officers made a dye, whose color was 'khaki'. Tea leaves were used to make this color, however, now synthetic dyes are used. After this, the policemen gradually changed the color of their uniforms from white to khaki. Khaki color is a pale yellow and brown mixture.
100 years before the independence of the country, Sir Henry Lawrence, the Governor's agent of 'Northwest Frontier', officially adopted the khaki color in the year 1847 after seeing the policemen wearing a khaki color uniform.
Lawrence raised the 'Corps of Guide Force' in Lahore in December 1846. This force was a regiment of the British Indian Army which was formed to serve on the north-west border.
In this way, the official uniform of the Indian Police Department changed from 'white' to 'khaki', which is still being used today.
Recently, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the country's largest paramilitary force, moved a proposal seeking to change the khaki uniform of its over 3 lakh personnel to give the CRPF a separate identity.
