RAL Design System plus — hue 020

In a colour scheme the direction of a red often matters more than its intensity. A red with a blue undertone calls for cool neighbours; a red with an orange side calls for warm ones. A red from 020 makes no such demand, and can therefore be combined with both warm and cool colours without creating tension.

That is exactly why this hue appears so often in corporate colour use and product design: the red has to work in changing contexts, on packaging beside white, on a machine beside grey, on a façade beside brickwork.

41 shades, from L\* 20 to L\* 93, with saturation up to 58 — higher than in 010. In this part of the circle red reaches more intensity than on the burgundy side.

All 41 colours in this group

RAL 020 20 05 — Deep brownView RAL 020 20 05 →RAL 020 20 10 — Night redView RAL 020 20 10 →RAL 020 20 20 — Dark red brownView RAL 020 20 20 →RAL 020 20 29 — BurgundyView RAL 020 20 29 →RAL 020 30 05 — Rhodonite brownView RAL 020 30 05 →RAL 020 30 10 — Budapest brownView RAL 020 30 10 →RAL 020 30 20 — Kremlin redView RAL 020 30 20 →RAL 020 30 30 — Crystal dark redView RAL 020 30 30 →RAL 020 30 40 — Amaranth blossomView RAL 020 30 40 →RAL 020 30 48 — Sweet cherry redView RAL 020 30 48 →RAL 020 40 05 — Greyish brownView RAL 020 40 05 →RAL 020 40 10 — Nut brownView RAL 020 40 10 →RAL 020 40 20 — Antique redView RAL 020 40 20 →RAL 020 40 30 — Hermosa pinkView RAL 020 40 30 →RAL 020 40 40 — October redView RAL 020 40 40 →RAL 020 40 50 — Bright redView RAL 020 40 50 →RAL 020 50 05 — Zircon greyView RAL 020 50 05 →RAL 020 50 10 — Sandstone red greyView RAL 020 50 10 →RAL 020 50 20 — Red greyView RAL 020 50 20 →RAL 020 50 30 — Venetian redView RAL 020 50 30 →RAL 020 50 40 — Alsike clover redView RAL 020 50 40 →RAL 020 50 50 — Flame redView RAL 020 50 50 →RAL 020 50 58 — Lingonberry redView RAL 020 50 58 →RAL 020 60 05 — Globe thistle grey roseView RAL 020 60 05 →RAL 020 60 10 — Tin pinkView RAL 020 60 10 →RAL 020 60 20 — Retro pinkView RAL 020 60 20 →RAL 020 60 30 — Begonia rusty roseView RAL 020 60 30 →RAL 020 60 40 — Lotus redView RAL 020 60 40 →RAL 020 70 05 — Fashion mauveView RAL 020 70 05 →RAL 020 70 10 — Tourmaline mauveView RAL 020 70 10 →RAL 020 70 20 — Rosewood apricotView RAL 020 70 20 →RAL 020 70 30 — Marker pinkView RAL 020 70 30 →RAL 020 80 05 — Aurora greyView RAL 020 80 05 →RAL 020 80 10 — Quartz roseView RAL 020 80 10 →RAL 020 80 20 — Marzipan pinkView RAL 020 80 20 →RAL 020 85 05 — Almond blossom pinkView RAL 020 85 05 →RAL 020 85 10 — Salmon creamView RAL 020 85 10 →RAL 020 85 20 — Elegant light roseView RAL 020 85 20 →RAL 020 90 05 — Mussel whiteView RAL 020 90 05 →RAL 020 90 10 — Peach creamView RAL 020 90 10 →RAL 020 93 05 — Blossom whiteView RAL 020 93 05 →

More about hue 020

That higher saturation has consequences. Research into colour perception shows that the sense of liveliness, dynamism and conspicuousness is determined almost entirely by saturation and hardly at all by hue itself. Within 020, then, you change the character of a surface far more by raising the last block than by moving to a neighbouring hue.

You will come across this hue less often in façades and frames: there the muted reds from RAL Classic dominate, such as oxide red and wine red, which sit more calmly on large exterior surfaces. Where 020 is strong is as an accent in an otherwise neutral palette — a door, a detail, an element that has to be found.

If you choose a shade here, you hold the hue fixed and vary only lightness and saturation. RAL Design 020 40 40 and 020 70 20 are unmistakably the same colour, merely dosed differently. That is what this system gives you and a historically grown collection does not: you can construct a colour scheme instead of assembling one.

Technical data

Hue: 020 · Shades: 41 · Lightness: L\* 20–93 · Saturation: C\* 05–58 · Lab values: per shade on the colour page · LRV: 6.2 to 81.7 · Included in: RAL D4 A4 colour samples (colour standard), RAL D2 fan deck, RAL D3 colour book, RAL D4 atlas, RAL D6 and D8 boxes

Neighbouring hues

RAL Design 010, RAL Design 030

Loose colour samples from this group

Click a colour for the available formats, or see the full product range in the shop.

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