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New to Orks so asking this.

TIA! ^_^

I recall it being a memento to their first defeat at Ullanor. The chequered pattern correlates to the colours of the Luna Wolves, which was black and white.

Digging somewhat further. If you look at the Ork Glyphs in their recent codex, you will see two specific ones named Garg and Miff, which are just a black and white square respectively.

Garg means Big, huge or terrifying and Miff means mistake or bad plan.

Their defeat at Ullanor got so ingrained into their headspace that they associate those two colours together with it.

Nah, they just like it. Like days, checks is just a pattern that looks good. Nothing more to it.

Its just a pattern that the designers used for orks way back at the beginning.
Checkered squares and dag patterns (the triangles) are all over WAAARGH the Orks! all the way back in 1990.

Blame Bryan Ansell and Nigel Stillman.

---
Ullanor didn't exist for another couple decades and (in-universe) orks don't have that kind of collective, galaxy-wide history anyway.

 Segersgia wrote:
I recall it being a memento to their first defeat at Ullanor. The chequered pattern correlates to the colours of the Luna Wolves, which was black and white.

Digging somewhat further. If you look at the Ork Glyphs in their recent codex, you will see two specific ones named Garg and Miff, which are just a black and white square respectively.

Garg means Big, huge or terrifying and Miff means mistake or bad plan.

Their defeat at Ullanor got so ingrained into their headspace that they associate those two colours together with it.

Orks have had check patterns since Rogue Trader, when things like Ullanor and the Beast were distant twinkles in lore writers' eyes. Actually, I think some of the current writers themselves might have been twinkles in eyes at that point. Even if this was in the lore somewhere, it would be a pure example of massively retconnning something very simple.

http://www.thebadguyswin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/waaarghhuge.jpg

 Oryza Sativa wrote:

 Segersgia wrote:
I recall it being a memento to their first defeat at Ullanor. The chequered pattern correlates to the colours of the Luna Wolves, which was black and white.

Digging somewhat further. If you look at the Ork Glyphs in their recent codex, you will see two specific ones named Garg and Miff, which are just a black and white square respectively.

Garg means Big, huge or terrifying and Miff means mistake or bad plan.

Their defeat at Ullanor got so ingrained into their headspace that they associate those two colours together with it.

Orks have had check patterns since Rogue Trader, when things like Ullanor and the Beast were distant twinkles in lore writers' eyes. Actually, I think some of the current writers themselves might have been twinkles in eyes at that point. Even if this was in the lore somewhere, it would be a pure example of massively retconnning something very simple.

What he said ^^^

Just been looking back through my old waargh ORKS book and no mention of that rubbish. It was just a style choice and less common, only really goffs and evil SUNZ to a lesser extent used checks.

As I recall from break down images you see it's considered a status symbol among orks. Probably because it's neater than what the average ork can paint.

When in doubt orks will value a handful of things. Is something dangerous? Does it look dangerous? Does it look like something you'd have to rip from someone else's corpse? Ultramarines used to have checks like that, so maybe some ork saw them, and associated them with marines so they copied it from there to seem tougher.

In 1st and 2nd edition, everyone had checkered-adjacent patterns. Orks, marines, robots, eldar... Some people at GW just had a thing for it. I wonder why? Was this pattern popular in some subcultures during this time period? The orks were just the only ones to really keep it in later editions.

The Ullanor thing is a ret-con, along with Klans not existing before the War of the Beast (but it's barely been mentioned so far).

It is esthetically pleasing to them.

Orkses have always had checks. As everyone has said. I noticed you guys were talking about the 'old' waargh orks
As an aside to this when did it change from WAAARGH to just WAAAGH?

I thought the idea was it was the orks saying War! But with the big teef it sounds like waargh?

Could also be a reference to early speed freaks/gorkamorka lore of orks liking fast vehicles. The chequered flag being associated with motor racing.

Some quick replies:

1: Its relatively quick and easy to paint if you have a thin tipped pen.

2: Orks are pretty much modeled on 1980's british football team colours and attitude (in fact, ork's whole outlook on life in general is that of the "football hooligan" prevalent in the 80's)
.Please note I use the term "football" in the european sense of a game where the ball is primarily moved around the pitch by use of "the foot" and not by the american definition of " throwing it once, spending 5 mins fighting over it and then having a break for 20mins while adverts play and bands march up and down the field"# (although the argument could be made his is indeed much more "orky"}

#As this is the internet, I will state this is intended as humor and not an attack on any country that doesn't know how to play rugby properly.)

3: See point 1. Its also a reference to the finishing flags in F1 racing (orks like to go fast!!!!)

I think it's also a remnant of the medieval/Renaissance/D&D aesthetic that early 40k cribbed so aggressively. In the old art, Rogue Traders, Space Marines, Eldar and Space Orks all exhibit a lot of heraldric-style patterns and color themes, along with other elements like kite shields, banners and standards, maille and gambesons and hosen, etc.

So checker/diamond patterns, blazons and chevrons, and parti-colored designs used to be more common, but have become more muted and diluted as the art aesthetic shifted. Orks don't have a lot of chainmail or horned helms anymore, but checkers and dags have remained as stylistic trim. Probably because it still fits with the crude and chunky ork aesthetic, while SM and Eldar have shifted to smoother, more "hi tech" designs.

It's a Goff thing specifically, white and black are their colors and signify how 'Ard (durable) they are. Colors are very important to orks; it's one of the main ways they differentiate their clans and make statements with their personal items. Orks who wear black and white checkers are saying "I'm no nonsense, I like to fight, you won't catch me wasting time with guns that are too fancy or looting, no mucking about."

Hecaton wrote:
It's a Goff thing specifically, white and black are their colors and signify how 'Ard (durable) they are. Colors are very important to orks; it's one of the main ways they differentiate their clans and make statements with their personal items. Orks who wear black and white checkers are saying "I'm no nonsense, I like to fight, you won't catch me wasting time with guns that are too fancy or looting, no mucking about."

While a valid point it is not “specifically” a goff thing. Many examples of especially evil SUNZ but many ORKS wearing or using check patterns.

Not to mention that Deffskuls are frequently painted with White and blue checks on their armour.

Though as time has gone by they have tried to push the Yellow/Black flames motif for Baddmoons along with the brown Dags for Snakebites.

In RT, it was partly a reference to their belief in Gork and Mork (the white and black checks) or was it Mork and Gork with the black and white checks?

but fluff has changed a lot since then and I stopped reading ork stuff in about 1990.

Got held up by the dayjob. Sorry for the late reply.

So aesthetics only eh? Thanks guys!

 PPPointyEars wrote:
Got held up by the dayjob. Sorry for the late reply.

So aesthetics only eh? Thanks guys!

Yep, but to your ORKS and your tribe/warband they can mean whatever you want them to.

Voss wrote:
Its just a pattern that the designers used for orks way back at the beginning.
Checkered squares and dag patterns (the triangles) are all over WAAARGH the Orks! all the way back in 1990.

Blame Bryan Ansell and Nigel Stillman.

---
Ullanor didn't exist for another couple decades and (in-universe) orks don't have that kind of collective, galaxy-wide history anyway.

Yes this is it.

Looking through the old Rogue Trader Ork books (Waargh the Orks and Ere We Go) it's very common.

Worth having a look at those old books, there is just so much humour and character in them, and so much of the ork kulture.

A lot was lost when Gav Thorpe (amongst others) completed their transformation to essentially just angry mushrooms that only exist to run at people screaming with an axe..

I blame Tank Girl.

Crackedgear wrote:
I blame Tank Girl.

You should probably blame 80's British Punk culture more as that influenced a lot of early GW Ork design aesthetics(as well as Tank Girl's).

I believe one source from the old-school studio also cited football hooliganism as a point of inspiration for Orks. ...even though I don't have that source to hand, it's not exactly a difficult connection to make...