RAL colour standard

Key takeaways

RAL colour standard belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect RAL colour standard to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of RAL colour standard from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

RAL is a colour management system used in Europe that is created and administered by the German RAL gGmbH (RAL non-profit LLC), which is a subsidiary of the German RAL Institute. In colloquial speech, RAL refers to the RAL Classic system, mainly used for varnish and powder coating, but now plastics as well. Approved RAL products are provided with a hologram to make unauthorised versions difficult to produce. Imitations may show different hue and colour when observed under various light sources.

RAL colour space system

RAL Classic In 1927, the German group Reichs-Ausschuß für Lieferbedingungen und Gütesicherung (Imperial Committee for Delivery and Quality Assurance) invented a collection of forty colours under the name of "RAL 840". Prior to that date, manufacturers and customers had to exchange samples to describe a tint, whereas from then on they would rely on numbers. In the 1930s, the numbers were changed uniformly to four digits and the collection was renamed to "RAL 840 R" (R for revised). Around 1940, the RAL colours were changed to the four-digit system, as is customary. Army camouflage colours were always recognised by a "7" or "8" in the first place until 1944. With tints constantly added to the collection, it was revised again in 1961 and changed to "RAL 840-HR", which consists of 210 colours and is in use to this day. In the 1960s, the colours were given supplemental names to avoid confusion in case of transposed digits. At the international furnishing fair imm Cologne, 13-19 January 2020, two new colours were presented in the Classic Collection: RAL 2017 RAL orange and RAL 9012 Cleanroom White. "RAL 840-HR" covered only matte paint, so the 1980s saw the invention of "RAL 841-GL" for glossy surfaces, limited to 193 colours. A main criterion for colours in the RAL Classic collection is to be of "paramount interest". Therefore, most of the colours in it are used on warning and traffic signs or are dedicated to government agencies and public services (for example: RAL 1004 - Swiss Postal Service, RAL 1021 - Austrian Postal Service, RAL 1032 - German Postal Service). The first digit relates to the shade of the colour:

RAL F9 This collection, which follows the naming of RAL Classic, was invented in 1984. It is now made up of ten colours ( RAL 1039-F9 Sand beige, RAL 1040-F9 Clay beige, RAL 6031-F9 Bronze green, RAL 6040-F9 Light olive, RAL 7050-F9 Camouflage grey, RAL 8027-F9 Leather brown, RAL 8031-F9 Sand brown, RAL 9021-F9 Tar black and RAL 6031-F9 HR Bronze green semi-matt) used by the Bundeswehr for military camouflage coating.

RAL Design In 1993 a new colour matching system was introduced, tailored to the needs of architects, designers and advertisers. It started with 1,688 colours and was revised to 1,625 colours and again to 1,825 colours. The colours of RAL Classic and RAL Design do not intersect. Contrary to the preceding systems, RAL Design features no names and its numbering follows a scheme based on the CIELAB colour space, specifically cylindrical CIEHLC. Each colour is represented by seven digits, grouped in a triple and two pairs, representing hue (000–360 degrees, angle in the CIELab colour wheel), lightness (same as in L*a*b*) and chroma (relative saturation). The three numeric components of almost all RAL Design colours are multiples of 5, the majority are divisible by 10.

Conversion from RAL Design number tuple to CIELAB

RAL Design = ( h a b ∘ , L ∗ , C a b ∗ ) a ∗ = C a b ∗ ⋅ cos ⁡ ( h a b ∘ ) b ∗ = C a b ∗ ⋅ sin ⁡ ( h a b ∘ ) {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\text{RAL}}_{\text{Design}}&=\left(h_{ab}^{\circ },L^{*},C_{ab}^{*}\right)\\a^{*}&=C_{ab}^{*}\cdot \cos \left(h_{ab}^{\circ }\right)\\b^{*}&=C_{ab}^{*}\cdot \sin \left(h_{ab}^{\circ }\right)\end{aligned}}}

RAL 210 50 15 converts to L* = 50, a* = −12.99, b* = −7.5, for instance.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

RAL Colours logo

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with RAL colour standard

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what RAL colour standard claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to RAL colour standard before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about RAL colour standard ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of RAL colour standard

In research: RAL colour standard appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses RAL colour standard in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: RAL colour standard is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1927 in the arts, 1927 introductions, Color organizations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for RAL colour standard outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study RAL colour standard in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what RAL colour standard means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain RAL colour standard out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is RAL colour standard in simple terms?

RAL is a colour management system used in Europe that is created and administered by the German RAL gGmbH (RAL non-profit LLC), which is a subsidiary of the German RAL Institute. In colloquial speech, RAL refers to the RAL Classic system, mainly used for varnish and powder coating, but now plastics…

Why does RAL colour standard matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study RAL colour standard?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on RAL colour standard.