Star Trek: 10 Behind The Scenes Secrets From Caretaker
5. Michael Pillar Lost An Argument And The Maquis Gained Starfleet Uniforms
An arguably missed opportunity in Star Trek Voyager was the relatively immediate assimilation of the Maquis into Starfleet. Though this would be explained away more or less satisfactorily, it was the result of Rick Berman winning an argument with Michael Piller.
Ronald D. Moore recounted that Piller was dead set against putting the Maquis in Starfleet uniforms. He felt that it would keep a visual division between the two crews, even as they came to understand and care for each other. For him, it was a way of showing the two sides putting enmity aside.
Berman opposed this idea. Paramount had felt that Deep Space Nine was, at this point, failing in the ratings. That meant that Voyager was designed to move away from that show, and recapture the brighter optimism of The Next Generation. Thus, the Maquis uniforms were scrapped by the end of Caretaker. Janeway takes command of the entire crew, with Chakotay serving as First Officer.
A frequent criticism of Voyager is that it stuck a little too rigidly to the format of The Next Generation. At least in the beginning, this seems to have been completely deliberate.