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IEC 60446
 
 
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International standard IEC 60446 defines basic safety principles for identifying electrical conductors by colours or numerals, for example in electricity distribution wiring.

standard permits the following colours for identifying conductors:

black
Black

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflection light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light....
, brown
Brown

Brown, when used as a general term, is a color that is a dark yellow, orange , or red, of low luminance relative to lighter or white colored objects....
, red
Red

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 625?740 Nanometer....
, orange
Orange (colour)

The color orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible Optical spectrum at a wavelength of about 585 ? 620 nanometre, and has a hue of 30? in HSV colour space....
, yellow
Yellow

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, but does not significantly stimulate the S cone cells; that is, light with much red and green but not very much blue....
, green
Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520?570-Nanometre....
, blue
Blue

Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440?490 Nanometre....
, violet
Violet (color)

As the name of a color, violet is used in two senses: first, referring to the color of light at the short-wavelength end of the optical spectrum, approximately 380?420 nanometre when indigo is recognized, or more commonly 380?450 nm ....
, grey
Grey

Grey or gray describes the tints and shades ranging from black to white. These, including white and black, are known as achromatic colors or neutral colors....
, white
White

White is a color, the Color vision#Physiology of color perception which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in near equal amount and with high brightness compared to the surroundings....
, pink
Pink

Pink is a pale red color; the use of the word for the color was first recorded in the late 17th century, describing the flowers of Dianthus, flowering plants in the genus Dianthus. Pink itself is a combination of red and white....
, turquoise
Turquoise (color)

Turquoise is a slightly greenish shade of cyan. The color is based on the gem turquoise. The term comes from the French for Turkish ....


(The colours green and yellow on their own are only permitted where confusion with the colouring of the green/yellow protective conductor is unlikely.






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International standard IEC 60446 defines basic safety principles for identifying electrical conductors by colours or numerals, for example in electricity distribution wiring.

Permitted colours

The standard permits the following colours for identifying conductors:

black
Black

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflection light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light....
, brown
Brown

Brown, when used as a general term, is a color that is a dark yellow, orange , or red, of low luminance relative to lighter or white colored objects....
, red
Red

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 625?740 Nanometer....
, orange
Orange (colour)

The color orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible Optical spectrum at a wavelength of about 585 ? 620 nanometre, and has a hue of 30? in HSV colour space....
, yellow
Yellow

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, but does not significantly stimulate the S cone cells; that is, light with much red and green but not very much blue....
, green
Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520?570-Nanometre....
, blue
Blue

Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440?490 Nanometre....
, violet
Violet (color)

As the name of a color, violet is used in two senses: first, referring to the color of light at the short-wavelength end of the optical spectrum, approximately 380?420 nanometre when indigo is recognized, or more commonly 380?450 nm ....
, grey
Grey

Grey or gray describes the tints and shades ranging from black to white. These, including white and black, are known as achromatic colors or neutral colors....
, white
White

White is a color, the Color vision#Physiology of color perception which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in near equal amount and with high brightness compared to the surroundings....
, pink
Pink

Pink is a pale red color; the use of the word for the color was first recorded in the late 17th century, describing the flowers of Dianthus, flowering plants in the genus Dianthus. Pink itself is a combination of red and white....
, turquoise
Turquoise (color)

Turquoise is a slightly greenish shade of cyan. The color is based on the gem turquoise. The term comes from the French for Turkish ....


(The colours green and yellow on their own are only permitted where confusion with the colouring of the green/yellow protective conductor is unlikely. Combinations of the above colours are permitted, but green and yellow should not be used in any of these combinations other than as green/yellow for the protective conductor.)

Use of colours


Neutral or mid-point conductor

If a circuit includes a neutral or mid-point conductor, then it should be identified by a blue colour (preferably light blue). Light blue must not be used for any other type of conductor.

AC phase conductors

The preferred colours for AC phase conductors are black and brown.

Protective conductor

The colour combination green/yellow is always and exclusively used to identify the protective conductor. On any 15 mm length of the conductor, one of these two colours should cover between 30% and 70% of the area and the other the remaining area.

PEN conductor

Insulated PEN conductors should be marked either green/yellow along their entire length with light blue markings at their ends, or light blue along their entire length with green/yellow markings at the ends.

United States, Canada and Japan

The three countries United States, Canada and Japan are mentioned in a note in the standard for using different colours:

  • white or natural grey for mid-wire or neutral conductor (instead of light blue)
  • green for the protective conductor (instead of green-and-yellow)


United Kingdom

British Standard BS 7671
BS 7671

British Standard BS 7671 "Requirements for electrical installations" is the national standard in the United Kingdom for low voltage electrical installations....
:2001 Amendment No 2:2004 adopted the IEC 60446 colours for fixed wiring in the United Kingdom , with the extension that grey can also be used for live conductors, such that three colours are available for three-phase installations. This extension is expected to be adopted across Europe and may even find its way into in a future revision of IEC 60446.

Numbering

Where conductors are in addition identified by numbers, then these numbers must be written in Arabic numerals, digits 6 and 9 must be underlined, and green-and-yellow conductors must not be numbered.