Profile - Uncle Sam's Technicolor War Plans

In peacetime, armed forces are supposed to consider possible threats and make plans accordingly. Since such matters have to be kept secret, from quite early in the twentieth century the U.S. Army and Navy began referring to potential opponents and allies, as well as places and objectives by various colors. Thus, when discussing a hypothetical operation, the brass could refer to "War Plan Indigo," knowing that the occupation of Iceland was meant in the event that Denmark fell under the control of an unfriendly power. Similarly, they could discuss our options if we had to assist "Lemon" in the event that it was attacked by "Olive," or if we were allied with "Red" against "Black," all the while confident that outsiders would be thoroughly confused by the "cover names" for the countries involved. This was the origin of the famous "War Plan Orange," the scheme (actually a successive series of blueprints developed over some forty years) for war with Japan, designated "Orange." Altogether some 30 places seem to have been given a color designation, including occasional changes.

The origin of the colors is unclear. In some cases there is an obvious link, such as "Red" for Britain (and variations of red for the Commonwealth), perhaps deriving from the reddish tint which has traditionally been used to indicate British territories on maps, while "Emerald" would certainly be appropriate for Ireland. Gray for the Azores may come from Joaquin Miller's poem "Columbus" that includes the line "Behind him lay the gray Azores." Some political humor probably accounts for "Pink" for Russia, while "Yellow" for China seems rooted in some blatant racism, as is "White" for the U.S. internal security plans. "Orange" probably refers to the color of the Japanese flag, as does "Green" for Mexico. But others are more obscure. "Olive" might refer to one of the principal products of Spain, as does "Lemon" in the case of Portugal, but what was the connection of "Purple" to Brazil or Russia, "Indigo" to Iceland, or "Maroon" and "Silver" for Italy, which could just as readily as Spain be "Olive."

Beginning in the late-1930s, the Army and Navy began to develop a new series of war plans based on the assumption that the US would have to fight one or more Axis powers, probably with allies. This led to the "Rainbow" plans.

In view of the changing international situation, in mid-1941 versions 2 and 3 were explicitly dropped, as they no longer reflected likely possibilities. “Rainbow Five” became the basis of US strategy after Pearl Harbor. Although it incorporated the final version of War Plan Orange, the basic premise of Rainbow Five was a "Germany first" strategy, that is, that in the event of war with both Germany and Japan, the Allies would concentrate their efforts on defeating Germany first, as the more dangerous of the two.

BookNotes: Ed Miller's War Plan Orange: The U.S. Strategy to Defeat Japan, 1897-1945 deals with the most famous of the "Color Plans," while Steve Ross' American War Plans, 1890-1939 and U.S. War Plans, 1939-1945 (The Anvil Series) covers the others, as well as the "Rainbow" plans.