What color are the uniforms of Gilead's Commanders?

The uniforms of Gilead’s Commanders are black.

In the television series, Commanders generally appear in black suits, coats, and military-inspired formalwear. The color visually separates them from the women whose clothing identifies their assigned social roles and makes the Commanders appear severe, disciplined, and politically dominant.

Gilead’s clothing system is deliberately color-coded. Handmaids wear red, Wives wear blue or teal, Marthas wear green, and Aunts wear brown. These colors make each group immediately recognizable while limiting personal expression. Black therefore marks the Commanders as members of the ruling male elite rather than simply indicating ordinary mourning or formality.

The series’ costuming expands the visual language of Margaret Atwood’s novel, where Commanders are also associated with dark, formal, military-style clothing. A common mistake is to identify blue as the Commanders’ color because the Commanders’ Wives wear blue. The blue belongs to the Wives; the Commanders themselves are represented by black.