When many people think of camouflage, they think of the distinctive clothing that military personnel sport on a daily basis. However, the idea of camouflage goes back as long as life has walked the earth, and is natural to most species of animals. In fact, the way that people have learned to use camo clothing originated from animals that need it to blend into their habitats and avoid predators. And for more than 100 years, zoologists have researched the the natural camouflage of animals, which they believe is a result of thousands of years of evolution.

Today, camo clothing and accessories include camo bathing suits, camo wedding dresses, camo baby bedding, camo purses, and the pink camouflage that you see in any elementary school. However, well before schoolgirls started dressing in pink camouflage, the military has been using it to hide themselves from the enemy.

During the revolutionary war, American patriots learned to utilize camo clothing from the Native Americans, who had long employed animal furs and skins to conceal themselves while hunting and fighting. As for modern use of camouflage during warfare, the Germans attempted to camouflage their planes during World War I, but you can imagine that the patchy greens, browns, and tans used in camouflage did not blend in too well with the blue sky. By the time World War II rolled around, the military realized that camouflaging air plans and tanks was most useful while their equipment was on the ground.