BRITISH STANDARD PAINT COLOURS

1930-1955

Introduction
Following moves made in the paint industry in the early years of the 20th centuryithe first range of
standardised paint colours was published in 1930. A British Standard, BS 381, which (with
additions in 1931) became BS 381C: 1931 Colours for Ready Mixed Paints formed the greater part
of the limited palette of paint colours available from most paint manufacturers throughout the next
twenty years.

In 1949 the British Colour Council issued its Dictionary of Colours for Interior Decoration showing
378 colours in gloss, matt and a pile fabric. Although not designed as a paint range it was often
used to specify a colour for which a match was required.ii

However, by the early 1950s a considerable amount of research and experiment had been carried
out into the methodical use of colour in buildings. Lessons had also been learnt from scientific
research into lighting and vision. The result was to show that colour, if properly understood and
successfully applied, could be made to do much more than merely cover and provide a finish to
surfaces. It could make a direct and positive contribution to the design of a building.iii

In 1952 the paint industry represented by the Paint Industry Colour Range Committee, approached
the Royal Institute of British Architects pointing out the problems that were being created by the
increasing tendency for users to order special colours or to specify from the continually widening
number of available colour ranges. With advice from the British Colour Council a set of
approximately one hundred colours was proposed from which it was intended that a range of 50-60
colours should be selected. Studies at the Building Research Station had suggested that if colours
were laid out in a logical order it would be possible to reduce the number of alternatives without
leaving too many gaps.iv During the next few years the various bodies continued discussing the
composition of such a range.

While the consultations took place, work carried out by the Schools Group of the Architect’s
Department of the Hertfordshire County Councilv had led to a particular range of colours being
developed, which had been used by a number of local authorities, especially in schools. This range
of forty-nine colours, including black and white, came to be known as the Archrome (Munsell)
range and the details were published in the Ministry of Education’s Building Bulletin No 9 of 1953.
Paints based on the range became commercially available and it was open to any manufacturer to
produce these colours.

The administrative advantages of a standard colour range were commonly acknowledged.

Duplication of work within an organisation, such as a local authority or a firm of architects could be
reduced to a minimum. The supply departments of the former could order in advance and maintain
a balanced stock. Economies in cost could be arranged by bulk buying, and in labour, particularly in
time and manpower spent on ordering and checking supplies and on supervising decoration on site.
Problems with the matching of colours could also be minimised. No more would the specifier be
driven to order “special” colours from the paint manufacturer.vi
Previously, existing ranges had not been designed for a particular use, and often presented an
arbitrary collection of colours that had been added to for various reasons.vii At this time it was
unusual to find colours on existing shade cards arranged in a systematic order, except perhaps a
general grouping in terms of hue. To describe colours accurately, however, further information was
required.

Munsell System of Colour Notation

The system of colour notation developed by Albert H. Munsell in the early twentieth century was
generally felt to be the most useful in describing colours.viii Until the publication of the Ministry’s
Bulletin the system was little known in Britain.

The Munsell system arranges the three attributes of colour into calibrated scales of equal visual
steps.ix

The complete notation of vermilion (a bright red pigment), for example, might be 5R 5/14.

This is made up as follows:

a) Hue is the attribute by which one colour is distinguished from another. In the Munsell system
there are five principal and five intermediate hues: Red; Yellow-Red; Yellow; Green-Yellow;
Green; Blue-Green; Blue; Purple-Blue and Red-Purple. These ten hues are further subdivided
into ten steps. The first part of the notation 5R indicates a pure red half way between a red-purple
and a yellow-red.

b) Value is the term used to describe the lightness of a colour. This descends in ten equal steps
from absolute black (value 0/) to absolute white (value 10/). Given the Munsell value of a colour
the light reflectance factor can be estimated by multiplying the value number (V) by this number
less one (V-1). For example, Munsell value 5/ is equivalent to a reflectance factor of about 5x
4= 20 per cent. In the example of vermilion this is indicated by 5/.

c) Chroma refers to the intensity of a colour, i.e. the amount of colour in a hue. Chroma extends
from a neutral grey out to /12, /14 or farther. In the example of vermilion this is indicated by /14.

The colours of the Archrome range were arranged in a grid with the hues placed horizontally so that
colours of equal value appeared in the same vertical column. Munsell notations were included in
order for the reflectance values to be calculated, and for a precise comparison of the relative
qualities of different colours to be made.

The ability to adopt a systematic approach to the use of colour was emphasised in Part I of the
Bulletin, which said that a successful colour scheme would be designed with three main objectives
in mind:

1) it should be a means of expressing the appropriate character of the building, its inhabitants and
their activities;
2) it should, together with the lighting, be a means of achieving an environment that will ensure
comfortable and efficient vision;
3) it should follow naturally from, and be an expression of the constructional elements and surfaces
in the building.x

In 1937 Amédée Ozenfant had said:

“I believe that an immense service would be done to architects, decorators, house painters
etc. if a chart especially adapted to their particular requirements were established. This chart
might contain about 100 hues.”xi

Other bodies expressed an interest in the advantages to be gained by specifying from a limited
range of carefully chosen paint colours. In March 1955 an interim range, based heavily on the
Archrome colours, was released for use by all Government Departments. This Colour Range of
Building Paints for Government Departments was produced in booklet form on the basis that it
would be superseded by a new British Standard colour chart when that was issued.

Later in the same year, the Paint Industry Colour Ranges Committee in conjunction with the
RIBA and various Government Departments finally agreed on a standard range of 101 coloursxii
which incorporated the Archrome range. This was adopted by the British Standards Institute as
B.S. 2660: 1955 Colours for Building and Decorative Paints.xiii

The new British Standard was, as described by one of those who worked on it, “…an architect
designed range.”xiv It found immediate favour with a great many architects and designers, and
gradually, in an unpremeditated manner, as a colour co-ordinator of manufactured goods. The
potential for rational use of colour was examined in many articles in professional and trade
publications at the time, several of which were illustrated with images that evoked the compositions
of the Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian.xv Such influence can be seen clearly in the elevations of the
Golden Lane Estate, in London, which was built in two phases between 1957 and 1962.xvi

Patrick Baty

prb@colourman.com

http://papers-paints.blogspot.com/

Notes
i
Outlined in (Jennings n.d, 18-19).
ii
(Carrington 1954, passim).
iii
(MOE 1953, 2).
iv
(Keyte 1956, 212-13).
v
(Medd 1949, 251).
vi
(MOE 1953, 10-11).
vii
By the 1948 revision BS381C had become a miscellaneous selection of colours showing,
amongst others, a number of colours used for traffic signs; London buses; vitreous enamels, the
GPO; the Ministry of Works; the South African Railways Administration, the War Department
and the Admiralty.
viii
(Munsell 1913, passim).
ix
(Porter 1982, 80-84).
x
(ibid. 4-5).
xi
(Ozenfant April 1937, 196). See Appendix Eight for more on his writings.
xii
See Ozenfant’s comment above.
xiii
(Hurst 1963, 411).
xiv
(Keyte 1956, 212).
xv
(Gloag and Keyte 1957, 399-402).
xvi
The original red of Cullum Welch House, the blue of Hatfield House, and the yellow of Great
Arthur House, are very similar to those used in his compositions in red, blue and yellow of the
1920s and 30s (Baty 2003, 33).

References
Baty, Patrick. "Golden Lane Estate, London EC1. Original Colours to Hatfield House, Crescent
House and Cullum Welch House.” 12th April 2003.

Carrington, Noel. Colour and Pattern in the Home. Batsford. 1954.

Gloag, H.L. (Bill) and Michael Keyte. “Rational Aspects of Colouring in Building Interiors.”
The Architects’ Journal. (1) March 14th 1957. pp.399-402 and (2) March 21st 1957, pp.443-448.

Jennings, Arthur Seymour. Paint and Colour Mixing. 3rd edn. n.d. (1913 ?).

Keyte, Michael. “The new British Standard colour range of building and decorative paints.” The
Architects’ Journal. Feb. 16th 1956. 212-17.

Medd, David. “Colour in Buildings: A Scale for Use in Schools.” The Builder, Feb. 25th 1949.
pp.251-52.

Ministry of Education. Building Bulletin No 9. 1953.

Munsell, A.H. A Color Notation. 1905. 3rd edn Geo. H. Ellis Co. Boston, USA. 1913.

Ozenfant, Amédée. “Colour: Experiments, Rules, Facts.” Architectural Review, 81 (April 1937)
195-98.

Porter, Tom. Colour Outside. The Architectural Press. 1982.