Man came up with camouflage from nature itself. In the late 1800's, an American artist named Abbott Thayer observed that many animals were shaded darker on the their backs to a whiter shade on their bellies. A variety of animals have the ability to blend into their surroundings to protect themselves. There are a variety of cold weather animals that have their fur turn to white during winter months and returning to brown for the summer months. Today's camouflage patterns use many of the same priniciples graduating from dark to light creating a shadow effect breaking up the camouflage pattern.
Camouflage was first used as a military advantage in World War I when airplanes started to use reconnaissance to spot the enemy. By World War II, camoflage had expanded to nearly every activity from snow camouflage in arctric regions to smoke screens to conceal cities. Runways of airfields painted to look like a series of roads. A shipyard would be hidden by stretching camouflage netting over the harbor.
Many different types of camouflage could be readily detected with infrared film. In 1957, the United States came up with a paint that was a more effective camouflage against infrared giving us the advantage.
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