ANSI Color Codes

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http://www.pteinc.com/color.html

ANSI Color Codes

Why are the ANSI color codes important? What does the yellow background mean?
The yellow background signifies that the piping may handle hazardous material.
Unfortunately, much has changed in the typical plant over the last 70 years since this
standard was originally conceived. The basic standard can be traced to the 1920's and use
in the US military. Obviously, our definitions for what is "hazardous" has changed. Water, air
or carbon dioxide, under certain situations (pressure, heat, mixture with other chemicals) are
not always benign. How do we interpret, for example, materials that should be used for "fire
quenching" that are also "hazardous"? Should we use the red or the yellow ANSI scheme?
Or, how do we label a pipe that carries both the liquid (which should be green) and gas form
of a chemical (which should be blue)?
Hazards, in other words, are not so easily defined. "Hazardous" may mean that the material
is hazardous to a person nearby, or to the operation of the overall plant itself. Could
"hazardous" mean that the materials flowing through the process piping, if not handled
carefully, could contaminate the product. Or, if leaked into the atmosphere, could the
chemical infect the environment or cause damage to employees after cumulative exposure
over a period of years? Clearly, the ANSI standard was written for far simpler times.
Color

Std

Meaning

Example

Red

APWA

Electric Power Lines, Cables,

Conduit and Lighting Cables

Buried High Voltage Line

Yellow

APWA

Gas, Oil, Steam, Petroleum or

Gaseous Materials

Natural Gas Distribution

Line

Orange

APWA

Communication, Alarm or Signal

Lines, Cables or Conduit

Buried Fiber Optic Cable

Blue

APWA Water, Irrigation and Slurry Lines

Buried Water Line

Green

APWA Sewers, Drain Line

Buried Storm Sewer Line

Red

Traffic

Prohibition

STOP, Yield

Orange

Traffic

Temporary Work Zone

Construction Zone Ahead

Yellow

Traffic

Caution

Merge Ahead, Slow

Blue

Traffic

Information Signs

Hospital

Brown

Traffic

Historical or Park

Picnic Area Ahead

Green

Traffic

Directional Signs

Exit 1 Mile, Go

Red

ANSI
Sign

Danger Signs, Highest Hazard

Hazardous Voltage Will

Cause Death

Orange

ANSI
Sign

Warning Signs, Medium Hazard

Hazardous Voltage May

Cause Death

Yellow

ANSI
Sign

Caution Signs, Lowest Hazard

Turn Machine Off When

Not In Use

Blue

ANSI
Sign

Notice Signs

Employees Only

Green

ANSI
Sign

Safety First Signs

Wear Ear Plugs

Red

ANSI
Pipe

Fire Quenching Materials

Fire Protection Water

Yellow

ANSI
Pipe

Materials Inherently Hazardous

Chlorine

Blue

ANSI
Pipe

Materials of Inherently Low Hazard,

Gas

Compressed Air

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ANSI Color Codes

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http://www.pteinc.com/color.html

Green

ANSI
Pipe

Materials of Inherently Low Hazard,

Liquid

Blue/Red/Yellow

NFPA
701

Blue is used for Health Hazards, Red for Flammability and

Yellow for reactivity

Storm Drain

Variations in color-coding standards are inevitable in our complex plant and pluralistic
society. While laudable, harmonization of color-codes, then, will be very difficult to achieve.
Many plants use other color-coding; for example, color-code each system (i.e. Lube Oil is
brown, Condensate is green, etc.>) or color code by Unit (i.e. Unit 1 is yellow, Unit 2 is blue,
etc.). For most plants, we recommend either the ANSI pipe marker color codes or simply
black on yellow markers. For more complex plants, we recommend a color-coding by
system. For all environments, we recommend the inclusion of RTK information on the valve
or on the pipe.
ANSI Color Code for Thermocouple and Thermocouple Extension Wire
ANSI
Symbol

Thermocouple Wire
Color

T/C Extension Wire

Color

Wire Alloys

Polarity

Individual

Jacket

Individual

Jacket

Iron
Constantan(TM)

+JP
-JN

White
Red

Brown

White
Red

Black

CHROMEL*
ALUMEL*

+KP
-KN

Yellow
Red

Brown

Yellow
Red

Yellow

Copper
Constantan(TM)

+TP
-TN

Blue
Red

Brown

Blue
Red

Blue

CHROMEL*
Constantan(TM)

+EP
-EN

Purple
Red

Brown

Purple
Red

Purple

Nicrosil(TM)
Nisil(TM)

+NP
-NN

Orange
Red

Brown

Orange
Red

Orange

RSX

Copper
Copper Alloy

+RSP
-RSN

Black
Red

Green

BX

PCLW630/Copper
Copper

+BP
-BN

Grey
Red

Grey

W3X
W5X

Alloy 203; Alloy 405

Alloy 225; Alloy 426

+WP
-WN

White/Red
Red

White/Red

* CHROMEL and ALUMEL are registered rademarks of Hoskins Manufacturing Company. PMC Corporation reserves the right to
substitute equivalent product to CHROMEL and ALUMEL at any time.
For additional information see Bare Wire Data Sheet

2006 Pro-Tech Systems Group. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.

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