Introduction
Founded in 1925, the Reichsausschuss für Lieferbedingungen's (shortly described as RAL) aim was to standardise the colours in which industrial goods were coated, varnished and coloured. The first RAL colour chart initially contained a selection of 40 standardised shades, with the aim of standardising colours and uniformly coating and painting industrial goods. Over time, the colour palette has grown to 216 shades, now known as RAL Classic colours.
One hundred years later, RAL celebrates this milestone in collaboration with the Dutch design studio Raw Color by honouring core RAL colours and producing a limited-edition release.
RAL - 100 Years - Joy of Colour
Raw Color is a design studio based in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Founded by Christoph Brach and Daniera ter Haar, Raw Color works on varied graphic design, photography and product design projects. However, the domain of all their projects is always colour.
Through researching the nature and application of each colour of the RAL Classic collection, Raw Color identified that the unique character of RAL COLOURS is its function and implementation in daily life. By highlighting the history and areas of application of RAL CLASSIC colours, they created categories and assigned colour tones to them; the result was five colours representing common application areas such as transport, communication technology and security. The five chosen colours represent an aesthetic cross-section of RAL colours that are both functional and expressive in their combination.
The anniversary colours
RAL 5017 Traffic Blue
Traffic blue is a striking and intense colour developed for traffic applications. This colour conveys warning and visibility, thus commonly used for signs, markings and safety equipment. It is also often used in many countries for signage on main roads.
RAL 3015 Light Pink
Light pink is a pale red with a pinkish hue specified as one of the multicore cable inner sheath colours according to DIN standards. Multicore cables are essential in high-speed data transmission in data centres and telecommunications. The colour is also used for inspection stickers in Germany, which are issued to companies afterwards as proof of electrical safety within their infrastructure.
RAL 1016 Sulfur Yellow
For two decades, Sulfur yellow has been the primary coating colour for many ambulances in Europe with reflective and contrasting stripes. The European Committee of Standardisation recommended this yellow due to the eye's response to a particular hue, which culminates in the colour.
RAL 6002 Leaf Green
Leaf green is popular for agricultural machinery and fencing. The shade has a moderate light reflectance value, making it ideal for uses that require recognition and an unobtrusive appearance. Leaf green is also the colour on emergency exit signs - the well-known sign with a green background, white arrow, and human pictogram running out of a door.
RAL 3000 Flame Red
Flame red, one of the original 40 RAL colours, is a colour that has become synonymous with safety and rescue. Around the world, fire engines and emergency stop buttons are lacquered with this striking and visible colour.
RAL Anniversary Editions
To celebrate "RAL - 100 Years - Joy of Colour", an anniversary design has been jointly created embracing these chosen colours for the most popular colour fans of the first RAL colour palette, RAL Classic.
The Raw Color anniversary design is now available in a limited edition for the RAL K7, RAL K5 gloss and RAL K5 semi-matt colour fans. Get yours now and be a part of colour history.
