It changed in the beginning of the 20th century. The black and white stripes began to be tied to gang activities in the late 19th century leading to the government changing their methods. Now, prisoners are usually put in neutral colors, grey, dark green, and dark blue, depending on the charges and/or the prison.

Typically, orange and red jumpsuits are only used for transporting prisoners or temporary holding, like in the county jail waiting for sentencing. This is because of the high visibility as well as the cliche everyone knows as that prisoners always wear orange. However, some areas, like New York State, have banned orange jumpsuits from being worn.