The word Khaki derives from the Hindustani word meaning dust. In 1846, a Punjab-based British named Lieutenant Harry Lumsden got tired of his British uniform of sweltering and peacock color bright red felt. Not only the enemy can recognize, make you an easy target, but the issued uniform was tough to maintain, uncomfortable in a hot and humid country like India. Borrowing the idea from the natives, he dyed the natural cotton with an extract of a plant called “mazari” local to India. From that day Lumsden distinguished himself as the only comfortable Anglo Saxon inventor of saffron colored cotton south of Liverpool, England.
Lumsden’s imitators tried to dye their cotton with coffee, tea, tobacco juice, ink and mud. It wasn’t until 1884, that a standard tawny-colored dye was patented back home in Manchester. In 1897 it became the official color of His/Her Majesty’s Royal Army Regiments serving in the region of Peshawar, India, properly dyed khaki uniforms for active service and summer dress. The original khaki fabric was a closely twilled cloth of linen or cotton. A darker shade of khaki “serge” was adopted for the other branches of the Royal Military Services’ uniform in 1902.
In 1898 the US Army utilized khaki uniform during the Spanish American War. It has become “de riqueur” or military uniforms of militaries in the world. This followed by the US Navy, the US Marine Corps, police forces of South Asian countries, US States and counties. Khaki – cool, durable, and sensibly perfect against the sandy, hot, humid, rainy conditions of America’s newly bought and acquired last island colonies from Spain; Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines with Guam.
Before the US acquired the Philippines as a colony, the Manila/Acapulco Gallon Trade made its capital Manila center of commerce in Asia & the Americas, though the city was only used as “warehouse for Asian goods” specially products from China. Attracted by the economic opportunities, the Chinese began to come in greater numbers. The Chinese barter activities for the purpose of securing goods that they could ship out, developed the production of Philippine produce like; abaca, sugar, resin and tobacco. Chinese men intermarry with native women which produce Chinese mestizos and by 1750, the mestizos were already a recognized and distinct element in Philippine society and had become the elite of society. They took over commerce, haciendas, produce, trading and economy of the Philippines.
During US colonial years in the Philippines, Chinese and Chinese mestizo merchants stocked and sold khaki to the military and civilians. The Philippines once a colony of Spain for 300 years, speak Spanish as second language. When someone asked “Donde puedo encontar pantalon khaki?” (Where can I find khaki pants?) the reply was “los Chinos” (the Chinese). Hence the term Chinos was referred to any cotton twill pants. Khaki once again… just one of the many colors of chino pants. Chino gained popularity in the U.S. in the 1900s, military men returning from the Philippines after the Spanish–American War brought back their cotton military trousers.
