Colors haven't changed for the major jobs. System was worked out by,then, Captain Joseph Reeves and his XO, then, Commander John Towers aboard USS Langley, CV-1, circa 1926.
Tom Wildenberg's All the Factors of Victory page 134:
"With the help of Commander John H. Towers, the Langley's executive officer, Reeves organized the flight deck crew into small groups of specialists. Each group was assigned responsibility for one aspect of the flight operations to be conducted on the Langley's flight deck. Specific tasks, such as operating the arresting gear, releasing tail hooks, and fueling aircraft, were allotted to each team along with a set of colored shirts. The members of each team wore the same color, which served to sort out who was doing what on the busy flight deck: blue for airplane pushers, brown for crew chiefs, purple for fuelers, and so on. Most important were the yellow shirt directors, for they were responsible for seeing that the planes were safely moved about the dangerous deck.. . ."
A good book, a biography of Admiral Reeves and his impact on the development of US Naval Aviation in the interwar years. I recommend it to those interested in how doctrine developed over those early years.
R