Class color
From USAFA Folklore
Each cadet class at the Academy has a class color, rotating between yellow, blue, gray, and red (in that order). Although the "official" class colors of odd-year classes are yellow and gray, many of those classes have had some class-colored items issued in the colors gold and silver, respectively. The class colors themselves are sometimes referred to as gold and silver, rather than yellow and gray.
The class color cycle started with the Class of 1959, a yellow/gold class; subsequent classes have cycled through the four colors. Specific classes are sometimes referred to as "tags" of their class color (e.g. "grey tags", "red tags", "blue tags") because the name tags on the outside of a cadet's room are in the class colors. Red classes specifically are known as Red Tag Bastards, starting with the Class of 1962.
[edit] Class Colored Issue Items
Blankets, trunks and other items issued to each class often matched the class color.
- Comforters are typically blue with class colored trim, giving us the term: the Blue Magnet.
- Solid blue comforters had no trim and the AFA Falcon and Arms logo and were sometimes called the Chicken Blanket
| Class | Class Color | Blanket | Trunk | Comforter | Bathrobe | Contrails Cover | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Yellow | Yellow | OD Green | Blue | Yellow | White | ||
| 1960 | Blue | Blue | OD Green | Blue | Blue | Blue | ||
| 1961 | Gray | Gray | OD Green | Blue | Gray | White | ||
| 1962 | Red | Red | Not issued | Red | Blue | Blue | ||
| 1963 | Yellow | Yellow | Blue | Not issued | Yellow | Yellow | ||
| 1964 | Blue | Blue | OD Green | Not issued | Blue | Blue | ||
| 1965 | Gray | Gray | OD Green | Not issued | Gray | Gray | ||
| 1966 | Red | Red | Not issued | Not issued | Red | Red | ||
| 1967 | Yellow | Yellow | Not issued | Not issued | Yellow | Gold | ||
| 1968 | Blue | Blue | ||||||
| 1969 | Gray | Gray | ||||||
| 1970 | Red | Red | Not issued | Red | ||||
| 1971 | Yellow | Gold | ||||||
| 1972 | Blue | Blue | Not issued | Not issued | Blue | Blue | ||
| 1973 | Gray | Gray | ||||||
| 1974 | Red | Red | ||||||
| 1975 | Yellow | Yellow | Not issued | Not issued | Yellow | Gold | ||
| 1976 | Blue | Blue | Not issued | Not issued | Blue | Blue | ||
| 1977 | Gray | Gray | Not issued | Not issued | Gray | Gray | ||
| 1978 | Red | |||||||
| 1979 | Yellow | Gray | Not issued | Not issued | Yellow | Gold | ||
| 1980 | Blue | Gray | Not issued | Not issued | Men: Dark Blue Women: Lt. Blue | Blue | ||
| 1981 | Gray | Not issued | Blue w/Logo | Solid Blue | ||||
| 1982 | Red | Gray | Not issued | Blue w/Logo | ||||
| 1983 | Yellow | Yellow | Not issued | Blue w/Logo | Gold | |||
| 1984 | Blue | Blue | Not issued | Blue w/Logo | Solid Blue | Blue | ||
| 1985 | Gray | |||||||
| 1986 | Red | Red | Red | Blue, Red trim | Solid Blue | Red | ||
| 1987 | Yellow | Blue | Yellow | Blue, Yellow trim | Gold | |||
| 1988 | Blue | Blue | Blue | Blue, Lt. Blue trim | Solid Blue | Blue | ||
| 1989 | Gray | Gray | Gray | Blue, gray trim | Solid Blue | Silver | ||
| 1990 | Red | Red | Red | Blue, Red trim | Issue raincoats Solid Blue | Red | ||
| 1991 | Yellow | Blue, Yellow trim | ||||||
| 1992 | Blue | Blue | Blue | Blue, Lt. Blue trim | Blue, Gray trim | Blue | ||
| 1993 | Gray | Blue | Blue | Blue, Gray trim | Blue, Gray trim | Silver | ||
| 1994 | Red | Blue | Blue | Blue, Red trim | Blue, Gray trim | Red | ||
| 1995 | Yellow | Blue, Yellow trim | Gold | |||||
| 1996 | Blue | Blue | Blue | Blue, Lt. Blue trim | Blue, Gray trim | Blue | ||
| 1997 | Gray | Blue | Blue | Blue, Gray trim | Blue | |||
| 1998 | Red | Blue | Blue | Blue, Red trim | ||||
| 1999 | Yellow | Yellow | Blue | Blue, Yellow trim | Blue, Yellow trim | |||
| 2000 | Blue | Blue | Blue | |||||
| 2001 | Gray | Gray | Blue | Blue, Gray trim | ||||
| 2002 | Red | Red | Blue | Blue, Red trim | Blue, Red trim | Red | ||
| 2003 | Yellow | Yellow | Blue | Blue, Yellow trim | Blue, Yellow trim | Gold | ||
| 2004 | Blue | Blue | Blue | Blue, Lt. Blue trim | Blue, Lt. Blue trim | Blue | ||
| 2005 | Gray | Gray | Blue | Blue, Gray trim | Blue, Gray trim | Silver | ||
| 2006 | Red | Red | Blue | Blue, Red trim | Blue, Red trim | Red | ||
| 2007 | Yellow | Yellow | Blue | Blue, Yellow trim | Blue, Yellow trim | Gold | ||
| 2008 | Blue | Blue | Blue | Blue, Lt. Blue trim | Blue, Lt. Blue trim | Blue | ||
| 2009 | Gray | Gray | Blue | Blue, Gray trim | Blue, Gray trim | Silver | ||
| 2010 | Red | Red | Blue | Blue, Red trim | Blue, Red trim | Red | ||
| 2011 | Yellow | Yellow | Blue | Blue, Yellow trim | Blue, Yellow trim | Gold | ||
| 2012 | Blue |
