Nelson Chequer

After the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) the colour scheme became popular, and most major vessels in the Royal Navy sported this pattern, though it was not mandatory and some captains changed it.

[2] Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory remains painted with these colours, with the yellow stripes showing along the level of the gunports in Chatham while on an 1800 refit.

[3] In 2015, following an archeological study conducted with the aid of the University of London; the preserved HMS Victory was repainted with a pale yellow hue, which researchers believe to more closely match the colours worn by the ship during the Battle of Trafalgar.

[4] Researchers in the project identified paint types for other colours used on the ship based on price and availability in the era such as lead white, lamp black and various shades of yellow ochre, noting Nelson desired an even paler shade of yellow mixed with white but died before his request could be approved by the Admiralty who posthumously denied his request.

In time ochre or buff paint began to replace linseed oil as the topside coating.

In the United States Navy the USS Constitution was black and buff when she was launched in 1798 and retained those colours until the early part of the War of 1812.