Systems and standards
RAL
A German colour standard of four-digit codes, used across Europe and beyond for paint, powder coating, signs and machinery.
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RAL is a colour standard that began in Germany in 1927. Its main collection, RAL Classic, assigns a four-digit number and a name to each of a little over two hundred colours. It is the usual way to specify colours for metalwork, window frames, machinery, road signs and public vehicles in much of Europe, and it is widely used in India and elsewhere for industrial paint and powder coating.
#F3DA0BRAL 3020 Traffic red (approx.)#CC0605RAL 5010 Gentian blue (approx.)#0E294BRAL 6005 Moss green (approx.)#2F4538RAL 7035 Light grey (approx.)#D7D7D7RAL 9010 Pure white (approx.)#FFFFFF
Origins
RAL comes from the initials of a German committee for delivery terms and quality assurance, set up in the 1920s by industry and government. In 1927 it issued a card of forty colours so that manufacturers and their customers could order by number instead of sending samples back and forth. More were added as industries asked for them: colours for the railways, the post office, the army and road signs. The four-digit numbering dates from the 1930s. The standard is now run by a non-profit institute in Bonn.
How the numbers work
The first digit gives the family: 1 for yellows, 2 for oranges, 3 for reds, 4 for violets, 5 for blues, 6 for greens, 7 for greys, 8 for browns and 9 for whites and blacks. The other digits are just a serial number and carry no meaning. RAL 3020 is traffic red, RAL 5010 is gentian blue, RAL 7035 is the light grey of many machines and computer casings, and RAL 9010 is the pure white used on countless walls and radiators. Each also has a name in several languages.
Beyond Classic
RAL Classic is a list, not a system. Its colours were added one at a time and the gaps between them are uneven. In 1993 the institute introduced RAL Design, a much larger and systematically ordered set based on the CIE Lab colour space, aimed at architects and designers. There is also a collection of metallic and pearl effect colours. For any of them, the printed or painted reference card is the standard. Screen versions are approximations, and paint from different makers under the same RAL number can vary slightly in gloss and shade.
Sources and further reading
Original text by the Rang desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Meanings of colour vary from place to place and person to person. If we have something wrong, tell us.