Why RAL colour names change between languages and shops

Ask three people for "anthracite" and you can easily end up with three different greys. Ask for "RAL 7016" and you should get the same colour from all three, give or take the usual differences between paint products. That gap between a name and a number causes more mis-orders than almost anything else at the paint counter, and it gets wider the moment a colour crosses a language border or lands in a shop's own catalogue.

This piece works through the questions I hear most often about RAL names, with real examples, and ends with a short checklist for ordering by number.

Why does the same RAL colour have different names?

RAL Classic colours are defined by number. The four digits, grouped by first digit (1 for yellows and beiges, 2 for oranges, 3 for reds and pinks, and so on up to 9 for whites and blacks), are the identity of the colour. The names are descriptions attached to those numbers, and descriptions get translated.

The original names are German, and the RAL range has names in other languages too. Translating a colour name is not like translating a part number. Translators choose the word that sounds natural to a native speaker, and sometimes there are several reasonable choices. Over the years, different suppliers, data sheets and price lists have used different English words for the same colour. Then shops and paint brands add their own names on top.

The number does not change in any of this. RAL 1021 is RAL 1021 in a German data sheet, an English catalogue and a French spray can.

What is the difference between "rape yellow" and "colza yellow"?

Nothing, as far as the colour goes. The standard English name for RAL 1021 rape yellow follows the German Rapsgelb: the yellow of oilseed rape in flower. Some sellers call it "colza yellow" instead, colza being another word for the same crop, and one that is common in French. Both names point at the same number.

The practical lesson is that if you see a name you do not recognise, look for the number next to it. If there is no number, do not assume. "Colza yellow" on a shelf label with no RAL number could be RAL 1021, or it could be a brand's own yellow with a nice name.

Is RAL 3014 antique pink or antique red?

The current standard English name for RAL 3014 is antique pink. The German name is Altrosa, roughly "old rose". Some older English colour lists rendered it as "antique red", and you will still find that wording on older data sheets, on some spray can labels and in the addresses of web pages, including our own RAL 3014 antique pink page, whose address keeps the older wording.

It is a muted, dusty pink, not a red, so "antique red" can mislead someone who has not seen it. The screen approximation on our page shows a soft rose, but treat it as a rough guide and look at a physical sample before ordering. Quote 3014 and the name stops mattering.

Jet black or signal black: is there a real difference?

Yes, and this is one of the traps worth knowing. RAL 9005 jet black is the deep black most people picture when they say "RAL black". RAL 9004 signal black is a slightly lighter, softer black with a faint grey quality to it. Side by side on a large panel the difference is easy to see. On a small sample under shop lighting, or as hex values on a screen, it can be surprisingly hard to spot.

The range has other blacks as well, including RAL 9011 graphite black and RAL 9017 traffic black, which sit very close to each other and to jet black. If you order "black RAL paint" without a number, you are trusting the seller to guess which one you meant. If you are touching up railings, a car part or a gate, ask the original supplier for the number, or compare a sample against the existing paint outdoors.

Is "cream" the same as RAL 9001?

Often not. RAL 9001 is called cream in English, but it is a very pale, slightly warm off-white, sitting in the whites group. Many people who ask for "cream" are picturing something noticeably yellower, more like RAL 1015 light ivory or even RAL 1013 oyster white. Light ivory is the classic warm cream of older kitchens and window frames; cream (9001) is closer to a soft white.

To add to the confusion, the German name for RAL 1013 translates literally as "pearl white", while the standard English name is oyster white. Neither name means it is a pearlescent or metallic finish; it is a flat, solid colour like the others. If someone hands you a note saying "pearl white RAL", check whether they mean RAL 1013 or a pearlescent paint from another system entirely.

Why is "anthracite" used for so many greys?

Because it has become a style word rather than a colour reference. RAL 7016 is anthracite grey in the RAL range, but shops and brands use "anthracite" loosely for most dark greys: RAL 7021 black grey, RAL 7024 graphite grey, RAL 7015 slate grey and plenty of colours that are not RAL at all. A garden furniture listing, a kitchen tap and a window frame might all say "anthracite" and sit in three different places on a colour chart.

When the colour matters, look for "RAL 7016" spelt out. If a product just says "anthracite", ask what the number is. If the seller does not know, assume it is not 7016 until you have seen a sample next to your existing work.

Do shop and brand names follow the RAL names?

Not necessarily. Paint makers have their own colour collections with their own names, and a shop may sell a brand colour called something like "Garden Slate" that is nowhere near any RAL colour. Separately, many mixing systems can tint to a RAL number on request. Those are two different things: a brand colour with a pleasant name, and a RAL number mixed in that brand's base. Only the second one is aiming at the RAL colour.

Even when a brand mixes to a RAL number, its product, gloss level and base will shift the look a little. That is normal, and it is why it pays to look at a physical sample rather than trust a name or a screen. Our article on matching a RAL number at the paint counter goes through what to ask the person mixing it.

Does it matter which language a data sheet uses?

Only for the name. If you are ordering from a supplier abroad, or reading a data sheet in German, French or Dutch, match the number, not the translated word. A German sheet that says Rapsgelb, a French one that says jaune colza and an English one that says rape yellow are all describing RAL 1021.

Where it can catch you is with near neighbours. A careless translation or a typing error can turn RAL 9005 into 9004, or RAL 7016 into 7015, and the name next to it will not save you if you have not checked the number itself.

Worked example: an order that went the long way round

Picture a small job: a front gate and railings that need repainting to match a neighbour's, which the neighbour describes as "RAL black, the satin one". The painter's first order slip says "RAL black satin, 1 litre", and the shop mixes RAL 9005 jet black, the most common choice.

On the gate it looks fine, but next to the neighbour's railings it is clearly darker and slightly crisper. A look at the neighbour's old tin shows the number: RAL 9004 signal black. The litre of 9005 is not wasted, it does the inside face of the gate, but a second tin of 9004 is needed for everything on show.

The fix would have taken one question. "Which RAL black?" would have saved a trip and a tin.

A short checklist for ordering by number

Before you order paint, powder coating or a factory finish, write down:

1. The full RAL number, with the four digits: "RAL 9004", not "RAL black".
2. Which range: RAL Classic, unless you know you need RAL Design or RAL Effect, which use different numbering.
3. The finish and gloss level: matt, satin or gloss, and a figure if the supplier gives one.
4. The product type and surface: exterior metal paint, wood paint, powder coating, spray can, two-pack.
5. A physical reference, if you have one: an old tin, a sample, a fan deck chip or a piece of the original item.

Leave the colour name on the slip if it helps you remember, but treat it as a nickname. If the name and the number ever disagree, believe the number, and check it against a physical sample or an official fan deck before the order is mixed. The colour values on this site, hex and RGB included, are approximations for screens and cannot settle that question on their own. For background on the range itself, the RAL website is the place to start.