RAL Design System plus — hue 120

This is one of the few hues for which the eye has a reference outside the system. Everyone knows grass, and everyone has an opinion on whether a green is "good grass". That makes the choice more awkward here than in a hue without a reference: a deviation is not read as a different colour but as the wrong colour.

There is a trap in it as well. Living foliage changes colour continuously — young leaves sit closer to 100, mature leaves to 120, dried leaves to 140 — and a coat of paint does not. So anyone choosing a colour to match planting is always choosing to match one moment in the season. It is wiser not to match planting but to contrast with it, and to give the colour a position of its own.

Green has the property of taking on from its neighbours whatever they lack. Next to concrete — light, neutral, cool — the yellow component in 120 comes forward and the colour reads warmer than it is. Next to warm timber the opposite happens: then the green wins and the colour looks cooler. Next to glass and polished metal it is mainly reflection that plays a part; the green then takes on the colour of whatever is around it.

All 47 colours in this group

RAL 120 30 05 — Racing greenView RAL 120 30 05 →RAL 120 30 10 — Country house greenView RAL 120 30 10 →RAL 120 30 20 — Avocado dark greenView RAL 120 30 20 →RAL 120 40 05 — English greenView RAL 120 40 05 →RAL 120 40 10 — Almond greenView RAL 120 40 10 →RAL 120 40 20 — Cactus greenView RAL 120 40 20 →RAL 120 40 30 — Basil greenView RAL 120 40 30 →RAL 120 40 40 — Pepper greenView RAL 120 40 40 →RAL 120 50 05 — Smoke greenView RAL 120 50 05 →RAL 120 50 10 — Velvet green greyView RAL 120 50 10 →RAL 120 50 20 — Parrot greenView RAL 120 50 20 →RAL 120 50 30 — Quartz greenView RAL 120 50 30 →RAL 120 50 40 — Hedge greenView RAL 120 50 40 →RAL 120 50 50 — Birch leaf greenView RAL 120 50 50 →RAL 120 60 05 — Bluish greyView RAL 120 60 05 →RAL 120 60 10 — Lavender leaf greenView RAL 120 60 10 →RAL 120 60 20 — Cider pear greenView RAL 120 60 20 →RAL 120 60 30 — Vesuvian greenView RAL 120 60 30 →RAL 120 60 40 — Bamboo grass greenView RAL 120 60 40 →RAL 120 60 50 — Aloe vera greenView RAL 120 60 50 →RAL 120 60 60 — Mamba greenView RAL 120 60 60 →RAL 120 60 63 — Luminescent greenView RAL 120 60 63 →RAL 120 70 05 — Laurel greyView RAL 120 70 05 →RAL 120 70 10 — Nile greenView RAL 120 70 10 →RAL 120 70 20 — Filigree greenView RAL 120 70 20 →RAL 120 70 30 — Serpentine greenView RAL 120 70 30 →RAL 120 70 40 — Light birch greenView RAL 120 70 40 →RAL 120 70 50 — Clematis greenView RAL 120 70 50 →RAL 120 70 60 — Tourmaline greenView RAL 120 70 60 →RAL 120 70 70 — Cocktail greenView RAL 120 70 70 →RAL 120 70 75 — Brilliant greenView RAL 120 70 75 →RAL 120 80 05 — Dust greenView RAL 120 80 05 →RAL 120 80 10 — Modern Style greenView RAL 120 80 10 →RAL 120 80 20 — Avocado creamView RAL 120 80 20 →RAL 120 80 30 — Natural greenView RAL 120 80 30 →RAL 120 80 40 — Summer greenView RAL 120 80 40 →RAL 120 80 50 — Fashion greenView RAL 120 80 50 →RAL 120 80 60 — Neon greenView RAL 120 80 60 →RAL 120 85 05 — Chalk greenView RAL 120 85 05 →RAL 120 85 10 — Light feather greenView RAL 120 85 10 →RAL 120 85 20 — Lake greenView RAL 120 85 20 →RAL 120 85 30 — Aqua greenView RAL 120 85 30 →RAL 120 90 05 — Lily of the valley whiteView RAL 120 90 05 →RAL 120 90 10 — Pale pistachioView RAL 120 90 10 →RAL 120 90 20 — Kiwi sorbet greenView RAL 120 90 20 →RAL 120 90 30 — Ice-cold greenView RAL 120 90 30 →RAL 120 93 05 — Touch of white greenView RAL 120 93 05 →

More about hue 120

That is simultaneous contrast, and in 120 it works more strongly than in most hues, because the eye distinguishes the smallest differences in the green area. A shift that would fall within the margin for a brown is visible here. So never assess this colour against a white background alone, but always against the material it will sit next to.

In mechanical engineering and on industrial sites this is familiar ground: fencing, handrails, conveying equipment, agricultural machinery. The muted shades around 120 40 30 (Basil green), 120 50 40 (Hedge green) and 120 60 40 (Bamboo grass green) are the working colours there — dark enough to tolerate dirt, saturated enough not to be read as grey. RAL Classic 6018 yellow green lies in this same area and explains part of the recognition.

The darkest shade, 120 30 05 (Racing green) with an LRV of 9.1, is a different application: a green that reads as near-black from a distance and only turns out to have colour close up. For frames, doors and exterior joinery that is often exactly the restraint you want.

At the upper end stands 120 70 75 (Brilliant green), with saturation 75 the strongest of this hue. Shades like that carry a second layer of meaning you cannot switch off: in public space green means free passage and safe condition. A saturated green on a wall or a door in a public building is therefore read as a sign, even when it is meant decoratively.

If you do want the liveliness but not the signalling effect, look in the middle field: 120 80 50 (Fashion green) keeps the intensity and loses the association, because its lightness takes it out of the signal area.

Green pigments have reasonable opacity, but in practice a saturated green is often built up from several pigments. Two batches with the same code can then match under one light source and differ under another — metamerism. In phased work, or when touching up existing work, that is the greatest risk in this hue. Fix the colour standard on the A4 colour samples and assess every new batch against it under the same lighting conditions.

Technical data

Hue: 120 · Shades: 47 · Lightness: L\* 30–93 · Saturation: C\* 05–75 · Lab values: per shade on the colour page · LRV: 9.1 to 82.7 · 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 110, RAL Design 130

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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