Electronic Wire Insulation Color

[jimh]

Electronic Wire Insulation Colors

In electronics wiring, one often sees many situations in which individual conductors in a cable or electrical harness use different wire insulation colors to identify their function. Herein I collect various references regarding what the wire colors themselves are named. I will give URL's to the sources.

From ALPHA WIRE, a major manufacturer of hook-up wire.
http://www.digikey.com/en/pdf/a/alpha-w ... lor-coding

Hook-Up Wire
Chart Z1
No.  Color
1    White
2    Black
3    Red
4    Green
5    Yellow
6    Blue
7    Brown
8   Orange
9   Slate
10  Violet
11  White/Black
12  White/Red
13  White/Green
14  White/Yellow
15  White/Blue
16  White/Brown
17  White/Orange
18  White/Slate
19  White/Violet
28  Green/Yellow
29  Yellow/Green
30  Pink

Chart Z2
No.  Colors
0    Black
1    Brown
2    Red
3    Orange
4    Yellow
5    Green
6    Blue
7    Violet
8    Slate
9    White
45  Yellow/Green
54  Green/Yellow
90  White/Black
91  White/Brown
92  White/Red
93  White/Orange
94  White/Yellow
95  White/Green
96  White/Blue
97  White/Violet
98  White/Slate
P   Pink
T   Tan
X   Clear

Another ALPHA WIRE color code chart for multi-conductor cables:
http://www.awcwire.com/alpha-chart-e.aspx

No. Base    1st    2nd    3rd
    Color   Stripe Stripe Stripe
1   Black                   
2   Brown                   
3   Red                 
4   Orange                  
5   Yellow                  
6   Green                   
7   Blue                    
8   Violet                  
9   Slate                   
10  White                   
11  White   Black
12  White   Brown               
13  White   Red             
14  White   Orange              
15  White   Yellow              
16  White   Green               
17  White   Blue                
18  White   Violet              
19  White   Slate               
20  White   Black   Brown           
21  White   Black   Red         
22  White   Black   Orange          
23  White   Black   Yellow          
24  White   Black   Green           
25  White   Black   Blue            
26  White   Black   Violet          
27  White   Black   Slate           
28  White   Brown   Red         
29  White   Brown   Orange          
30  White   Brown   Yellow          
31  White   Brown   Green           
32  White   Brown   Blue            
33  White   Brown   Violet                   
34  White   Brown   Slate   
35  White   Red     Orange       
36  White   Red     Yellow
37  White   Red     Green
38  White   Red     Blue
39  White   Red     Violet
40  White   Red     Slate           
41  White   Orange  Yellow          
42  White   Orange  Green           
43  White   Orange  Blue            
44  White   Orange  Violet          
45  White   Orange  Slate           
46  White   Yellow  Green           
47  White   Yellow  Blue            
48  White   Yellow  Violet          
49  White   Yellow  Slate           
50  White   Green   Blue            
51  White   Green   Violet          
52  White   Green   Slate           
53  White   Blue    Violet  
54  White   Blue    Slate 
55  White   Violet  Slate 
56  White   Black   Brown   Red      
57  White   Black   Brown   Orange 
58  White   Black   Brown   Yellow 
59  White   Black   Brown   Green 
60  White   Black   Brown   Blue 
61  White   Black   Brown   Violet 
62  White   Black   Brown   Slate 
63  White   Black   Red     Yellow 
64  White   Black   Red     Green 
65  White   Black   Red     Blue 
66  White   Black   Red     Violet
67  White   Black   Red     Slate                        
68  White   Black   Orange  Yellow
69  White   Black   Orange  Green
70  White   Black   Orange  Blue
71  White   Black   Orange  Violet
72  White   Black   Orange  Slate
73  White   Black   Yellow  Green 
74  White   Black   Yellow  Blue
75  White   Black   Yellow  Violet
76  White   Black   Yellow  Slate
77  White   Black   Green   Blue
78  White   Black   Green   Violet
79  White   Black   Green   Slate
80  White   Black   Blue    Violet
81  White   Black   Blue    Slate
82  White   Black   Violet  Slate
83  White   Brown   Red     Orange
84  White   Brown   Red     Yellow
85  White   Brown   Red     Green
86  White   Brown   Red     Blue
87  White   Brown   Red     Violet
88  White   Brown   Red     Slate
89  White   Brown   Orange  Yellow
90  White   Brown   Orange  Green
91  White   Brown   Orange  Blue
92  White   Brown   Orange  Violet
93  White   Brown   Orange  Slate
94  White   Brown   Yellow  Green
95  White   Brown   Yellow  Blue
96  White   Brown   Yellow  Violet
97  White   Brown   Yellow  Slate
98  White   Brown   Green   Blue
99  White   Brown   Green   Violet
100 White   Brown   Green   Slate

[jimh]

The formerly ubiquitous 25-pair telephone cable color code:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25-pair_color_code

Pair  Major  Minor
No.   Color  Color
1     White  Blue
2     White  Orange
3     White  Green
4     White  Brown
5     White  Slate
6     Red    Blue
7     Red    Orange
8     Red    Green
9     Red    Brown
10    Black  Slate
11    Black  Blue
12    Black  Orange
13    Black  Green
14    Black  Brown
15    Black  Slate
16    Yellow Blue
17    Yellow Orange
18    Yellow Green
19    Yellow Brown
20    Yellow Slate
21    Violet Blue
22    Violet Orange
23    Violet Green
24    Violet Brown
25    Violet Slate

Wikipedia notes:
"The color violet is sometimes called purple, but in the telecommunications and electronics industry it is always referred to as violet. Similarly, slate is a particular shade of gray. The names of most of the colors were taken from the conventional colors of the rainbow or optical spectrum, and in the electronic color code, which uses the same 10 colors (though in a different order).

[jimh]

As mentioned, all the wire marking colors are based on ten fundamental wire colors

White
Black
Red
Green
Yellow
Blue
Brown
Orange
Slate
Violet

There are two more colors often seen as standard colors from wire manufacturers:

Pink
Tan

Combinations of these colors are used to identify individual conductors by using a base color and an alternate color or stripe.

[jimh]

Color in electronic components is often used to indicate numerical values. There is a very old and very well known standard for this representation:

0 = Black
1 = Brown
2 = Red
3 = Orange
4 = Yellow
5 = Green
6 = Blue
7 = Violet
8 = Gray
9 = White

There was a nemonic aid to help remember this color sequence, but this rather politically-incorrect sentence is seldom seen these days. Anyone who worked with electronics in the 1950's and 1960's knows that sentence. Wikipedia lists it and a dozen or more alternatives that are more polite.