RAL Design System plus — hue 070

Unlike 060, this hue has no shades at L\* 20. That is not an omission but a limit of materials technology. Yellow is by definition a light colour: the light reflectance value of a yellow pigment is high, and to make a yellow dark, black or brown has to go in. With that, precisely what makes the yellow yellow disappears. The darkest shade here, 070 30 10 *Mineral brown*, has a light reflectance value of 8.7 and is no longer read as yellow but as brown.

Further round the circle that limit becomes tighter still: 075 and 085 do not even begin until L\* 40. The system shows what can be made opaque with available pigments, not what can be calculated in theory.

The low-saturation shades of this hue lie in the colour of historical ochre paint and of pigmented limewash: 070 50 10 *Saruk grey*, 070 60 10 *Light mahogany*, 070 80 30 *Golden oat coloured*. In restoration and in matching existing plasterwork this is the first area to search, because the earth pigments used there for centuries come out here.

All 42 colours in this group

RAL 070 30 10 — Mineral brownView RAL 070 30 10 →RAL 070 30 20 — Beech brownView RAL 070 30 20 →RAL 070 40 10 — Mink brownView RAL 070 40 10 →RAL 070 40 20 — Huckleberry brownView RAL 070 40 20 →RAL 070 40 30 — Arable brownView RAL 070 40 30 →RAL 070 40 40 — Autumn goldView RAL 070 40 40 →RAL 070 50 10 — Saruk greyView RAL 070 50 10 →RAL 070 50 20 — Ash goldView RAL 070 50 20 →RAL 070 50 30 — Lion's mane blondeView RAL 070 50 30 →RAL 070 50 40 — Antique goldView RAL 070 50 40 →RAL 070 50 50 — Stage goldView RAL 070 50 50 →RAL 070 50 55 — Theatre goldView RAL 070 50 55 →RAL 070 60 10 — Light mahoganyView RAL 070 60 10 →RAL 070 60 20 — Dark blondView RAL 070 60 20 →RAL 070 60 30 — Light oak brownView RAL 070 60 30 →RAL 070 60 40 — Grain brownView RAL 070 60 40 →RAL 070 60 50 — Mud yellowView RAL 070 60 50 →RAL 070 60 60 — Mustard yellowView RAL 070 60 60 →RAL 070 60 70 — Sea buckthorn yellow brownView RAL 070 60 70 →RAL 070 60 75 — Autumn leaf orangeView RAL 070 60 75 →RAL 070 70 10 — Ginger grey yellowView RAL 070 70 10 →RAL 070 70 20 — Light ash brownView RAL 070 70 20 →RAL 070 70 30 — Golden beigeView RAL 070 70 30 →RAL 070 70 40 — Dechant pear yellowView RAL 070 70 40 →RAL 070 70 50 — Honeycomb yellowView RAL 070 70 50 →RAL 070 70 60 — Gorse yellow orangeView RAL 070 70 60 →RAL 070 70 70 — Naples yellowView RAL 070 70 70 →RAL 070 70 80 — Saffron goldView RAL 070 70 80 →RAL 070 80 10 — Flax beigeView RAL 070 80 10 →RAL 070 80 20 — Buttercup yellowView RAL 070 80 20 →RAL 070 80 30 — Golden oat colouredView RAL 070 80 30 →RAL 070 80 40 — Apricot yellowView RAL 070 80 40 →RAL 070 80 50 — Warm apricotView RAL 070 80 50 →RAL 070 80 60 — Golden rain yellowView RAL 070 80 60 →RAL 070 85 05 — Almond beigeView RAL 070 85 05 →RAL 070 85 10 — Silver thistle beigeView RAL 070 85 10 →RAL 070 85 20 — Sandalwood beigeView RAL 070 85 20 →RAL 070 85 30 — Hair blondeView RAL 070 85 30 →RAL 070 90 05 — Off whiteView RAL 070 90 05 →RAL 070 90 10 — Light cornView RAL 070 90 10 →RAL 070 90 20 — Chalk yellowView RAL 070 90 20 →RAL 070 93 05 — Anemone whiteView RAL 070 93 05 →

More about hue 070

At saturations above 50 it becomes golden yellow: 070 70 50 *Honeycomb yellow* and, at the outer edge, 070 70 80 *Saffron gold*, the most strongly saturated shade of this hue at C\* 80. That part behaves like a metallic colour without metal — it reads as brass or burnished gold, especially on a glossy surface.

No hue lies closer to the natural colour of European timber than this one. That is at once its strength and its pitfall. A shade lying right next to the colour of oak, elm or larch will not work with it but compete with it: the eye then sees not a colour combination but a failed match, even where the difference is small.

If you are working against timber, choose deliberately: either clearly lighter and less saturated than the timber, or clearly more saturated. The area in between — almost the same colour — is in practice the least restful choice.

In this part of the circle the gloss level carries through more strongly into the perceived colour than in the dark hues. A high-gloss golden yellow reflects the light of the source itself and looks lighter and less saturated; the same yellow in matt reads fuller and darker. With a light reflectance value that rises to 85.2 at the upper end, that difference is large enough to tip a contrast requirement.

So always assess at the final gloss level and on the final substrate, and record the approval on the A4 colour samples as the colour standard.

Technical data

Hue: 070 · Shades: 42 · Lightness: L\* 30–93 · Saturation: C\* 05–80 · Lab values: per shade on the colour page · LRV: 8.7 to 85.2 · 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 060, RAL Design 075

Loose colour samples from this group

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

To the RAL Design System plus shop