RAL colour standard


RAL is a colour matching system used in Europe that is created and administrated by the German RAL gGmbH, 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 there are reference panels for plastics as well.
Approved RAL products are provided with a hologram as of early 2013 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 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". 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 till 19 January 2020, two new colours were presented in the Classic Collection: RAL 2017 RAL Orange and RAL 9012 Clean Room White.
As "RAL 840-HR" covered only matte paint 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. The first digit relates to the shade of the colour:
RangeRange NameFirstLastQuantity
RAL 1xxxYellowRAL 1000 Green BeigeRAL 1037 Sun Yellow50
RAL 2xxxOrangeRAL 2000 Yellow OrangeRAL 2013 Pearl Orange14
RAL 3xxxRedRAL 3000 Fire RedRAL 3033 Pearl Pink34
RAL 4xxxVioletRAL 4001 Red PurpleRAL 4012 Pearl Black Berry12
RAL 5xxxBlueRAL 5000 Violet BlueRAL 5026 Pearl Night Blue25
RAL 6xxxGreenRAL 6000 Patina GreenRAL 6038 Luminous Green36
RAL 7xxxGreyRAL 7000 Squirrel GreyRAL 7048 Pearl Mouse Grey38
RAL 8xxxBrownRAL 8000 Green BrownRAL 8029 Pearl Copper20
RAL 9xxxWhite/BlackRAL 9001 CreamRAL 9023 Pearl Dark Grey14

RAL F9

This collection, which follows the naming of RAL Classic, was invented in 1984. It is now made up of ten colours, 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 now 1825 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 color space, specifically. Each colour is represented by seven digits, grouped in a triple and two pairs, representing hue, lightness and chroma. 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 Effect

RAL Effect comprises 420 solid colours and seventy metallic colours. It is the first collection from RAL to be based on waterborne paint systems.

RAL Digital

RAL Digital is software that allows designers to navigate the RAL colour space.