Battle colours? (3,5)
I believe the answer is:
war paint
'battle colours?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'battle colours?' is the wordplay.
'battle' becomes 'war' (I've seen this before).
'colours?' becomes 'paint' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'war'+'paint'='WAR-PAINT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for war paint that I've seen before include "what woman may have to face" , "Make-up's required" , "put on a brave face?" , "Make-up (for native Americans?)" , "Facial decoration showing hostile intent" .)