RAL Design System plus — hue 170

That is not a linguistic curiosity but a project risk. Where a colour is agreed in words alone — "the green of the reception desk", "that turquoise in the hall" — the chance of misunderstanding rises quickly in this area. The official shade names confirm the ambiguity: 170 40 35 is called Victoria green, 170 50 55 Absinthe turquoise. The same hue, ten blocks of saturation apart, a different word.

The remedy is simple and, in this area, not optional: set down the full shade code in the specification and refer to the colour standard, not to a colour name. A name here is descriptive, not a specification.

57 shades, from L\* 20 to L\* 93, with saturation up to C\* 55. That is more range in saturation than the pure green next door, which stops at C\* 50. The explanation lies in the pigment: as soon as blue plays a part, an intense green can be made more opaque with phthalocyanine than a pure green at the same level. So the system does not show what is conceivable, but what is feasible.

All 57 colours in this group

RAL 170 20 10 — Deep greenView RAL 170 20 10 →RAL 170 20 15 — Intense greenView RAL 170 20 15 →RAL 170 20 20 — Coach greenView RAL 170 20 20 →RAL 170 20 25 — Off-road greenView RAL 170 20 25 →RAL 170 30 10 — Garnet black greenView RAL 170 30 10 →RAL 170 30 15 — Dark greenView RAL 170 30 15 →RAL 170 30 20 — Thistle greenView RAL 170 30 20 →RAL 170 30 25 — Raspberry leaf greenView RAL 170 30 25 →RAL 170 30 30 — Chrysocolla dark greenView RAL 170 30 30 →RAL 170 30 35 — Trapper greenView RAL 170 30 35 →RAL 170 30 40 — Permanent greenView RAL 170 30 40 →RAL 170 40 10 — Chalcedony greenView RAL 170 40 10 →RAL 170 40 15 — Palace greenView RAL 170 40 15 →RAL 170 40 20 — Plantain greenView RAL 170 40 20 →RAL 170 40 25 — Ore mountains greenView RAL 170 40 25 →RAL 170 40 30 — Tractor greenView RAL 170 40 30 →RAL 170 40 35 — Victoria greenView RAL 170 40 35 →RAL 170 40 40 — Device greenView RAL 170 40 40 →RAL 170 40 45 — Environmental greenView RAL 170 40 45 →RAL 170 40 50 — Vegan greenView RAL 170 40 50 →RAL 170 50 10 — Bournonite greenView RAL 170 50 10 →RAL 170 50 15 — Fuchsite greenView RAL 170 50 15 →RAL 170 50 20 — Blackberry leaf greenView RAL 170 50 20 →RAL 170 50 25 — Tourmaline blueView RAL 170 50 25 →RAL 170 50 30 — Dream greenView RAL 170 50 30 →RAL 170 50 35 — Accent green blueView RAL 170 50 35 →RAL 170 50 40 — Spectral greenView RAL 170 50 40 →RAL 170 50 45 — Mallard greenView RAL 170 50 45 →RAL 170 50 50 — Chagall greenView RAL 170 50 50 →RAL 170 50 55 — Absinthe turquoiseView RAL 170 50 55 →RAL 170 60 10 — Quantum greenView RAL 170 60 10 →RAL 170 60 15 — Bitter clover greenView RAL 170 60 15 →RAL 170 60 20 — Cyprus greenView RAL 170 60 20 →RAL 170 60 25 — Succulent greenView RAL 170 60 25 →RAL 170 60 30 — Vibrant greenView RAL 170 60 30 →RAL 170 60 35 — Klimt greenView RAL 170 60 35 →RAL 170 60 40 — Persian greenView RAL 170 60 40 →RAL 170 60 45 — Sport greenView RAL 170 60 45 →RAL 170 60 50 — Active greenView RAL 170 60 50 →RAL 170 70 10 — Lovage greenView RAL 170 70 10 →RAL 170 70 15 — Chrysopal light greenView RAL 170 70 15 →RAL 170 70 20 — Source greenView RAL 170 70 20 →RAL 170 70 25 — Orient mosaic greenView RAL 170 70 25 →RAL 170 70 30 — Mint cold greenView RAL 170 70 30 →RAL 170 70 35 — Emerald greenView RAL 170 70 35 →RAL 170 70 40 — Expressionism greenView RAL 170 70 40 →RAL 170 80 10 — Fluorite blueView RAL 170 80 10 →RAL 170 80 15 — Swimming pool greenView RAL 170 80 15 →RAL 170 80 20 — Sky greenView RAL 170 80 20 →RAL 170 80 25 — Larimar greenView RAL 170 80 25 →RAL 170 85 05 — Silicate light turquoiseView RAL 170 85 05 →RAL 170 85 10 — Topaz greenView RAL 170 85 10 →RAL 170 85 15 — Refrigerator greenView RAL 170 85 15 →RAL 170 85 20 — Crystal glass greenView RAL 170 85 20 →RAL 170 90 05 — Crystal salt whiteView RAL 170 90 05 →RAL 170 90 10 — Turquoise whiteView RAL 170 90 10 →RAL 170 93 05 — Snow crystal greenView RAL 170 93 05 →

More about hue 170

The most saturated point lies at L\* 50 — 170 50 55 Absinthe turquoise, with an LRV of the order of 21. Upwards and downwards the saturation falls back: at L\* 20 what remains is 170 20 15 Intense green with an LRV of 6.2, at L\* 93 only 170 93 05 Snow crystal green with 82.3. The shape of the field is therefore a diamond with its broad middle at half lightness, and that is the shape you build a colour scheme in.

The association of this area is almost always inorganic: shallow water, stained glass, copper ore. 170 30 30 is called Chrysocolla dark green and 170 70 15 Chrysopal light green, both after minerals. That explains why this hue holds up well next to glass, polished concrete, zinc and aluminium, and less well next to textile and warm timber — with timber the eye misses the yellow component that 150 still has.

On the warm–cool scale 170 lies clearly in the cool half. The maximum of colour warmth lies at around hue angle 50 degrees in the oranges, the minimum at around 230 degrees in the blues; at 177 degrees this hue is closer to the cool end than to the warm one, without being blue. In spaces where the perception of temperature plays a part — a server room, a south-facing hall, a workshop with a heat load — that is usable: the muted shades from this area bring the perceived temperature down without the space becoming chilly.

What matters here is that the saturation steers the coolness more strongly than the hue does. 170 60 20 Cyprus green feels slightly cool; 170 50 55 on the same surface feels unmistakably cold.

In this area the eye distinguishes small differences sharply, and that is exactly why a monitor is unreliable: the screen pushes the whole hue towards turquoise. Assess on material, at size, and under the light of the final situation. For approval, work with the A4 colour samples as the colour standard.

Technical data

Hue: 170 · Shades: 57 · Lightness: L\* 20–93 · Saturation: C\* 05–55 · Lab values: per shade on the colour page · LRV: 6.2 to 82.3 · 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 160, RAL Design 180

Loose colour samples from this group

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