Dear RhubarbCommando: I remember reading a long time ago that khaki originated in India when a unit clad in white was so vulnerable to enemy snipers that their colonel ordered them to rub dirt onto them. Several sources say "khaki" is an Urdu word

khaki - 1857, from Urdu khaki, lit. "dusty,"
from khak "dust," from Pers. First introduced
in uniforms of British cavalry in India (the
Guide Corps, 1846); widely adopted for
camoflage purposes in the Boer Wars.