RAL Design System plus — hue 160

Seventy shades is exceptional: well above the pure green of 180 with 61, and double that of 150. The reason is that this area serves two different colour experiences, both of which the system has to cover in full. On the muted side lie the grey-greens that are used in construction and interiors as near-neutrals; on the saturated side lies turquoise, a colour chosen precisely in order to be seen.

That difference can be read off at a single lightness level. 160 60 10 Slate green and 160 60 55 Emerald light green have virtually the same lightness — LRV 29.9 against 29.5 — and in a colour scheme they are unusable as substitutes for one another. What separates them is saturation alone, and saturation determines almost entirely how lively and eye-catching a surface looks. Within this hue you therefore regulate the effect with the last block, not with the middle one.

The series runs from L\* 20 to L\* 93, with 160 20 20 Opulent green as the darkest shade at an LRV of 6.1 — the lowest of the six hues in this segment. That makes 160 suitable for work where depth is needed: dark blue-green joinery, frames, structural steelwork, or a base colour against which lighter elements have to stand out.

All 70 colours in this group

RAL 160 20 05 — Beryl black greenView RAL 160 20 05 →RAL 160 20 10 — Mussel greenView RAL 160 20 10 →RAL 160 20 15 — Pumpkin green blackView RAL 160 20 15 →RAL 160 20 20 — Opulent greenView RAL 160 20 20 →RAL 160 30 05 — Rich oliveView RAL 160 30 05 →RAL 160 30 10 — Exclusive greenView RAL 160 30 10 →RAL 160 30 15 — Leaf greenView RAL 160 30 15 →RAL 160 30 20 — Mountain mintView RAL 160 30 20 →RAL 160 30 25 — Order greenView RAL 160 30 25 →RAL 160 30 30 — Troll greenView RAL 160 30 30 →RAL 160 30 35 — Card table greenView RAL 160 30 35 →RAL 160 30 40 — Lemon balm greenView RAL 160 30 40 →RAL 160 40 05 — Jasper greenView RAL 160 40 05 →RAL 160 40 10 — Siberian greenView RAL 160 40 10 →RAL 160 40 15 — Cucumber greenView RAL 160 40 15 →RAL 160 40 20 — Serbian greenView RAL 160 40 20 →RAL 160 40 25 — Black pine greenView RAL 160 40 25 →RAL 160 40 30 — Pumpkin greenView RAL 160 40 30 →RAL 160 40 35 — Jade mussel greenView RAL 160 40 35 →RAL 160 40 40 — Clover greenView RAL 160 40 40 →RAL 160 40 45 — Frog greenView RAL 160 40 45 →RAL 160 40 50 — Universal greenView RAL 160 40 50 →RAL 160 40 55 — Column of oak greenView RAL 160 40 55 →RAL 160 50 05 — Arctic lichen greenView RAL 160 50 05 →RAL 160 50 10 — Atlas cedar greenView RAL 160 50 10 →RAL 160 50 15 — Stone cypress greenView RAL 160 50 15 →RAL 160 50 20 — Juniper greenView RAL 160 50 20 →RAL 160 50 25 — Sports field greenView RAL 160 50 25 →RAL 160 50 30 — Leisure greenView RAL 160 50 30 →RAL 160 50 35 — Adamite greenView RAL 160 50 35 →RAL 160 50 40 — Metallic greenView RAL 160 50 40 →RAL 160 50 45 — Vital greenView RAL 160 50 45 →RAL 160 50 50 — Golf greenView RAL 160 50 50 →RAL 160 50 55 — Iceland greenView RAL 160 50 55 →RAL 160 50 60 — Real turquoiseView RAL 160 50 60 →RAL 160 60 05 — Sandstone grey greenView RAL 160 60 05 →RAL 160 60 10 — Slate greenView RAL 160 60 10 →RAL 160 60 15 — Mild greenView RAL 160 60 15 →RAL 160 60 20 — Douglas fir greenView RAL 160 60 20 →RAL 160 60 25 — Practice greenView RAL 160 60 25 →RAL 160 60 30 — Memphis greenView RAL 160 60 30 →RAL 160 60 35 — Advertising greenView RAL 160 60 35 →RAL 160 60 40 — Hunter greenView RAL 160 60 40 →RAL 160 60 45 — Linoleum greenView RAL 160 60 45 →RAL 160 60 50 — Parakeet greenView RAL 160 60 50 →RAL 160 60 55 — Emerald light greenView RAL 160 60 55 →RAL 160 60 58 — Alhambra greenView RAL 160 60 58 →RAL 160 70 05 — Greenish greyView RAL 160 70 05 →RAL 160 70 10 — Weak greenView RAL 160 70 10 →RAL 160 70 15 — Andean slateView RAL 160 70 15 →RAL 160 70 20 — Ceramic greenView RAL 160 70 20 →RAL 160 70 25 — Water greenView RAL 160 70 25 →RAL 160 70 30 — Mountain lake greenView RAL 160 70 30 →RAL 160 70 35 — American greenView RAL 160 70 35 →RAL 160 70 40 — Techno turquoiseView RAL 160 70 40 →RAL 160 70 45 — Garish greenView RAL 160 70 45 →RAL 160 70 50 — Malachite greenView RAL 160 70 50 →RAL 160 80 05 — Fog greenView RAL 160 80 05 →RAL 160 80 10 — Matte jade greenView RAL 160 80 10 →RAL 160 80 15 — Sun yellowView RAL 160 80 15 →RAL 160 80 20 — Feather greenView RAL 160 80 20 →RAL 160 80 25 — Menthol greenView RAL 160 80 25 →RAL 160 80 30 — Silk greenView RAL 160 80 30 →RAL 160 85 05 — Light greenView RAL 160 85 05 →RAL 160 85 10 — Micaceous greenView RAL 160 85 10 →RAL 160 85 15 — Moonstone greenView RAL 160 85 15 →RAL 160 90 05 — Watercolour whiteView RAL 160 90 05 →RAL 160 90 10 — Moonlight greenView RAL 160 90 10 →RAL 160 90 15 — Glacial water greenView RAL 160 90 15 →RAL 160 93 05 — Mountain crystal silverView RAL 160 93 05 →

More about hue 160

Because lightness determines the perceived weight — dark weighs, light recedes — the full scale gives you both the heavy and the receding variant within one hue. 160 85 05 Light green with an LRV of 65.3 and 160 20 05 Beryl black green with 6.7 are the same hue and opposite functions.

In the built environment turquoise has no tradition of the kind green or oxide red has. It is a colour of more recent date and of specific sectors: sport and recreation, healthcare, education, retail and signage inside buildings. 160 50 25 Sports field green and 160 70 40 Techno turquoise already point to that use in their names.

For signage one thing matters: turquoise is not a safety colour and has no fixed meaning. Green stands for free passage, blue for a mandatory instruction; turquoise reads as neither, and that is exactly what makes it usable for wayfinding that must not be confused with safety signage.

The saturated shades in this area are built up with phthalocyanine pigments. Those are highly lightfast and last well outdoors, but they have great tinting strength with little body: small differences in dosing carry through visibly, and the coat covers less well than an earth colour. On surfaces applied in sections the risk of banding is therefore real, particularly at the higher saturations.

Metamerism plays a part here too. Two batches that match in daylight can diverge under cool artificial light, because blue-green mixtures can be made with different pigment combinations. When touching up existing work, always have a trial area assessed under the light of the final situation.

Turquoise is the colour in which screens deviate most: a monitor shows this area more saturated than paint can achieve, so a chosen shade often turns out flatter in execution than expected. So choose from the fan deck or the colour book and approve on the A4 colour samples as the colour standard.

Technical data

Hue: 160 · Shades: 70 · Lightness: L\* 20–93 · Saturation: C\* 05–60 · Lab values: per shade on the colour page · LRV: 6.1 to 81.5 · 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 150, RAL Design 170

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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