Aw Hecht!

[filfoster]

I apologize for this in advance but I am curious: What does the 'pike' in 'pike gray' refer to?  A fish?  A road?  A pole?

[filfoster]

Thank you!  I have wondered about this for years!  I should have asked here sooner.  One of life's mysteries answered!

[peter monahan]

 I'd call it 'grey-green', myself, but I'm no artist!

[filfoster]

Many of the uniforms look distinctly blue.  It must be an interesting story how this adjective came to be applied to that color.

[Bayern]

filfoster : The colour called Hechtgrau was adopted by AH for a new field uniform in 1908. It was no a newcomer .really was and old one .it was the colour of the Rifle regiments and Bataillons since the Napoleonic Wars.and originally was a medium grey with a strong blue tint .but always the exposition to the sunlight faded the tint and yellowished (sic ) the colour so appears greenish , an Austrian collector and fisher said me that the same occurs with the pike fish when caught and exposed . The Army Museum in Vienna shows many Pike grey uniforms . those in mint condition are openly light blue in tone but others ,with signs of wear are more light in tone and a bit greenish. An american reporter who saw the German Army in Belgium in 1914 and the Austrian Howitzers deployed there says in his reportage Austrians with silvered ! colour uniforms . Its a matter of light and another facts .