Star Trek: The Original Series aired on the NBC network. NBC was at the time was owned by RCA, the company that owned many of the basic patents on the then-new technology of color television. It's therefore not surprising that original series costume designer William Ware Theiss was asked to make his Starfleet uniforms vividly colorful. Since then, color television has become ubiquitous, so the corporate need for colorful costumes has subsided. These original-style Starfleet uniforms nevertheless remain a highly-recognizable symbol of the beloved first Star Trek.