RAL colour: What is it?
In Colour Worlds & Inspiration · 8 min reading time
Everyone who deals with colours will at some point come across the term "RAL colours". But what are these RAL colours? How did they come about and what do you need them for?
What are RAL colours?
RAL colours are standardised colours created and administered by RAL gemeinnützige GmbH. This is a subsidiary of RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung e. V. (RAL: Reichs-Ausschussfür Lieferbedingungen). The RAL colours are a series of colour systems used worldwide, each of which contains a colour scheme of standardised colours. Each colour has its own number so that it can be communicated without a colour sample.
Colour systems, colour fans, colour cards - standardised colour shades in the RAL catalogue
The RAL colour system comprises various colour fans, with each colour being assigned a colour number. For example, the colour shades of wall paints and varnishes can be precisely reordered using the corresponding colour sample. The RAL colour fans are available in the RAL 840-HR colour register with a matt surface and in the RAL 841-GL colour register with a glossy surface.
From RAL 3000 Fire Red to RAL 9006 White Aluminium - Basic Knowledge RAL Colours
There are two important colour schemes for the RAL colours. One is a RAL colour chart called RAL Classic and the other is a colour collection called RAL Design. The colour card Classic contains 215 colour shades that were originally developed for water-soluble varnishes. It contains colour shades from the red colour spectrum, the yellow and the green colour range. In addition, within the RAL colours there are many shades of white and grey in all gradations up to deep black.
The MissPompadour Paint White with Melting corresponds approximately to the RAL colour shade 9010 Pure White.
RAL colours and their numbers: How are they determined?
All colours of the colour catalogue go back to a table of 40 colours that was created in 1927. Already at that time the goal was that customer and supplier only had to exchange one standard number to see the same colour shade. Based on these 40 colour numbers, the RAL colours were changed to a four-digit system in 1940. Until 1944 the camouflage colour of the army was always identified by a 7 or an 8 in the first position of the colour number. Until today, all RAL colours have four-digit colour numbers.
What criteria must a colour fulfil in order to be included in the RAL system?
The candidate for inclusion in the RAL system must firstly be timeless and secondly be of overriding public interest. In addition, the colour shade must be environmentally friendly to produce. It should have high opacity and be UV-resistant. Of course, it must be different from existing colours.
Is a RAL number assigned to each colour?
The assignment of numbers to each individual colour enables the exchange and communication about colours without colour sample.
What are RAL numbers used for?
When a customer and a supplier, for example an architect and a painter, exchange RAL colour numbers, it is guaranteed that they mean the same colour. The exchange and matching of colour samples becomes superfluous. For example, you can write down the RAL number of the colour with which your windows will be painted. Years later, the windows can still be repainted in the same colour.
The MissPompadour Paint Green with Forest is similar to the RAL colour shade 6005 Moss Green.
Discover RAL Colours at MissPompadour
Our high-quality colours are created especially for MissPompadour with a great deal of sensitivity and colour feeling. Often a colour shade is discussed for a long time before it ends up in the collection, which is why you will not find any colour shades at MissPompadour that correspond exactly to the RAL colours
Wall paints according to RAL colour shades at MissPompadour
There are, however, shades that are similar to the individual RAL colours. These include: MissPompadour Blue with Ink, which is roughly equivalent to RAL 5008 Grey Blue, or Grey with Warmth, which is roughly equivalent to RAL 7035 Light Grey. The intense RAL 7016 Anthracite Grey is a colour shade that roughly corresponds to MissPompadour Black with Slate. MissPompadour Green with Olive is similar to RAL 6021 Pale Green. However, the most interesting colours for you will be the white shades. Here, the light RAL colour shade 9016 Traffic White roughly corresponds to MissPompadour White with Character and RAL 9003 Signal White comes close in the MissPompadour White with White collection.
The MissPompadour Paint Grey with Black corresponds approximately to the RAL colour shade 7012 basalt grey.
You can find many more pictures in our inspiration feed!
Between wall paints and varnishesn
In general, the RAL colour shade has nothing to do with the quality of the paint, i.e. which substrate can be painted. You can find both wall paints and varnishes in different RAL colours.
The colour shades from MissPompadour are available as wall paints and varnishes. It's quite simple: If you want to paint walls, use a wall paint. This applies to plastered walls and woodchip wallpaper. But you can also paint concrete walls, exposed brickwork or wood panelling with wall paint. MissPompadour offers the wall paints The Functional Wall Paint and The Valuable Wall Paint.
If you want to paint furniture, use lacquer paint. This also applies to metal radiators or tiles. At MissPompadour you will find two varnish variants: MissPompadour Eggshell Varnish and MissPompadour Matt Varnish.
In the CosyColours chalk varnish collection you will find more than 30 rich, velvety colour shades that are perfect for varnishing vintage or shabby style furniture.
MissPompadour also offers the LittlePomp chalk paints collection, which are offered as matt wall paints, and the LittlePomp chalk varnishes, which are used as furniture and toy paints.
The colour shades of all these extremely high-quality paints were created by colour designers.
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