Facing colour engineers and support corps normally had a single branch colour, although exceptionally each regiment of Swedish artillery had its own facing colour until 1910. The United States regular army after the American Civil War adopted a universal dark and light blue uniform under which each regiment was distinguished only by numbers and other insignia, plus branch colors. The latter were yellow for Cavalry, red for Artillery and white (later light blue) for infantry. Combinations of colors such as scarlet piped with white for Engineers, orange piped with white for the Signal Corps and black piped with scarlet for Ordnance personnel
Colour state other than clouds or low visibility (e.g. ice or other obstructions) then the word BLACK is written in full and placed immediately before the actual colour state (e.g. BLACKWHT). The colour state may be appended to a METAR report. A short period forecast called a "TREND" which covers the following two hours from the observation may also be added, often with reference to the colour state. The following criteria are used to determine the colour state: Colour state Colour states is a system used for quickly showing meteorological conditions. Meteorological colour states are determined by the relevant worst condition from