RAL Colours May 2, 2007
Posted by admin in : Colour Chart, Marine Paints , trackback
I was going to post Part 2 of ‘Choosing A Painting Contractor’ but decided to post this first, since 2 emails received this past week asked what RAL colours were. 
RAL colour is simply a German colour standard. It gives a reference point for paint colours to be specified, not unlike British Standard colours or BS Colours for short. RAL colour standard is the work of the RAL German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification. In 1927, in fulfilling its wish for a single unified colour range, the institute came up with a Colour Collection called RAL 840-HR. The numerical notations given to the individual colours in this standard allows for clear and concise specification and communication within and across industries.
This RAL 840-HR standard (also known as the Classic RAL Range) was set up in 1927. It gives each colour in its range a 4-digit number, eg. RAL 1012 for Lemon Yellow or RAL 5019 for Capri Blue. Initially, this standard had only 40 colours but it has risen over the years to more than 200 today. The colours in this standard are used widely in many industries and differs from other colour standards with its inclusion of safety and signalling colours. For example, RAL 3001 is Signal Red and RAL 1023 is Traffic Yellow. The RAL colours can be viewed on several websites. Examples are: http://www.indfinspec.demon.co.uk/ral_colour_chart.htm http://www.themeter.net/ral_e.htm The colour fanbook can be purchased from : http://www.ral.de/en/ral_farben/farbkarten/index.php
RAL colours in the RAL 840-HR Classic range can be tinted by some tinting machines. Contact me if you have such requirement.
Comments»
My company is trying to find a paint manufacturer that can mix RAL colors:
9022, 4012, and 5025. We are in Texas, but we provide self-service kiosks to airline companies world-wide. Our customers get to choose the color paint for the facade, but we cannot get these colors locally. Do you have any advice?
What is full form of RAL Colour.
What are the RAL colour shade equivalnet to IS & BS shade. Can u provide the total list.
What are the RAL standards colour shade equivalnet to BS & IS standard colour shade
What is the full from of R A L
Vinay,
Could you elaborate further your question please?
Thanks.
If you are interested in buying RAL Color Cards and fan decks contact Dorn Color, Inc. 216.634.2252 x 399. They are the only licensed RAL distributor in the US.
Thanks PJ Rattigan, for the information. For anyone interested, their website is:
http://www.dorncolor.com/
I bought mine from a local distributor here in Singapore. I suppose there are distributors in most places. Those with information, please comment here so others can benefit.
[...] in the past the BS or British Standards colour system and the RAL colour system from Germany (see post). Now, I would like to introduce another widely used colour system - the Natural Color System [...]
what is the term RAL and give me complete list with colour
I don’t have the complete list. Take a look at the ‘Colour Cards’ page at the top right hand corner. Once on that page, scroll down to RAL Colours.
what is full form of RAL ?