RAL Design System plus — hue 240

From that follows where you will come across this hue. Signage, corporate identities, mechanical engineering and everything that has to keep working in a changing context looks for a blue without a direction: a blue with a green side asks for cool neighbours, a blue with a violet side for warm ones. A shade from 240 makes no such demand and can be used next to grey, white, steel and timber without tension arising. In the built environment it is moreover the area where the painted blue of doors, fencing and building services has always lain.

The names in this hue show that neutrality: RAL Design 240 50 10 is called Tool blue, RAL Design 240 60 05 Carrier pigeon blue. These are not decorative colours but working colours.

This hue counts 51 shades, from L\* 20 to L\* 90 and from C\* 05 to C\* 40. What is remarkable is not the number but the spread: at one and the same lightness there are shades here across almost the whole width of saturation. RAL Design 240 60 05 Carrier pigeon blue and RAL Design 240 60 40 Clear blue have the same lightness and a virtually equal light reflectance value, around 31, but the first is a blue-grey and the second an outspoken blue.

All 51 colours in this group

RAL 240 20 05 — Nightshade blueView RAL 240 20 05 →RAL 240 20 10 — Elderberry blackView RAL 240 20 10 →RAL 240 20 15 — Metal blueView RAL 240 20 15 →RAL 240 20 20 — Crowberry blueView RAL 240 20 20 →RAL 240 20 22 — Rich blueView RAL 240 20 22 →RAL 240 30 05 — Diamond greyView RAL 240 30 05 →RAL 240 30 10 — Dirty blueView RAL 240 30 10 →RAL 240 30 15 — Deep sea blueView RAL 240 30 15 →RAL 240 30 20 — Lazurite blueView RAL 240 30 20 →RAL 240 30 25 — Work blueView RAL 240 30 25 →RAL 240 30 30 — Gemstone blueView RAL 240 30 30 →RAL 240 30 35 — Captain blueView RAL 240 30 35 →RAL 240 40 05 — Blue anthraciteView RAL 240 40 05 →RAL 240 40 10 — Blackthorn blueView RAL 240 40 10 →RAL 240 40 15 — Celeste blueView RAL 240 40 15 →RAL 240 40 20 — Denim blueView RAL 240 40 20 →RAL 240 40 25 — Orient blueView RAL 240 40 25 →RAL 240 40 30 — Sailor blueView RAL 240 40 30 →RAL 240 40 35 — Stone blueView RAL 240 40 35 →RAL 240 40 40 — Pure light blueView RAL 240 40 40 →RAL 240 50 05 — Smoky blueView RAL 240 50 05 →RAL 240 50 10 — Tool blueView RAL 240 50 10 →RAL 240 50 15 — Technical blueView RAL 240 50 15 →RAL 240 50 20 — Coelin blueView RAL 240 50 20 →RAL 240 50 25 — Greenland blueView RAL 240 50 25 →RAL 240 50 30 — Summer blueView RAL 240 50 30 →RAL 240 50 35 — Advertising blueView RAL 240 50 35 →RAL 240 50 40 — Indian ink blueView RAL 240 50 40 →RAL 240 60 05 — Carrier pigeon blueView RAL 240 60 05 →RAL 240 60 10 — Bird blueView RAL 240 60 10 →RAL 240 60 15 — Architecture blueView RAL 240 60 15 →RAL 240 60 20 — Shirt blueView RAL 240 60 20 →RAL 240 60 25 — Steel light blueView RAL 240 60 25 →RAL 240 60 30 — Fairytale blueView RAL 240 60 30 →RAL 240 60 35 — Princess blueView RAL 240 60 35 →RAL 240 60 40 — Clear blueView RAL 240 60 40 →RAL 240 70 05 — Laundry blueView RAL 240 70 05 →RAL 240 70 10 — Eye blueView RAL 240 70 10 →RAL 240 70 15 — Bermuda blueView RAL 240 70 15 →RAL 240 70 20 — Sea blueView RAL 240 70 20 →RAL 240 70 25 — Madonna blueView RAL 240 70 25 →RAL 240 70 30 — Caribbean blueView RAL 240 70 30 →RAL 240 80 05 — Hazy blueView RAL 240 80 05 →RAL 240 80 10 — Light topaz soft blueView RAL 240 80 10 →RAL 240 80 15 — Baby blueView RAL 240 80 15 →RAL 240 80 20 — Crystal blueView RAL 240 80 20 →RAL 240 85 05 — Ice greyView RAL 240 85 05 →RAL 240 85 10 — Air blueView RAL 240 85 10 →RAL 240 85 15 — Paris blueView RAL 240 85 15 →RAL 240 90 05 — Soft blue whiteView RAL 240 90 05 →RAL 240 90 10 — Chalky blue whiteView RAL 240 90 10 →

More about hue 240

In practice that is the most usable property of 240. You can vary the intensity of a colour scheme without changing the weight — two surfaces that feel equally heavy but differ strongly in liveliness. In hues with a more thinly occupied field, such as 250 or 270, that is not possible and you have to give up lightness to gain saturation.

On the weight scale, blue does what light and dark prescribe: lightness determines the perceived weight almost entirely, with the hue as a slight modulation in which blue-violet feels lightest. RAL Design 240 20 22 Rich blue, with a light reflectance value of 6.1, therefore weighs heavily — but less heavily than an equally dark yellow-green.

The practical conclusion is an order of work. Choose the lightness first, because that determines weight, contrast and light reflectance value. Then choose the saturation, because that determines whether the surface looks lively or muted. By then you already have the hue fixed — and in that respect 240 is easier than the hues with a direction.

Blue holds up better outdoors than red, but not without reservation. The modern blue pigments in this area are excellent in lightfastness; what does change is the binder. If the surface becomes chalky, it scatters light diffusely and blue becomes visibly lighter and drabber, while the measurement below the surface is still correct. When touching up existing blue work you therefore almost always get a visible seam: the fresh coat stands fuller.

In that case, never touch up parts of a surface, but work up to the first logical boundary — a seam, the edge of a frame, a movement joint. With dark blue that matters more than with light blue, because the difference from the weathered coat is greater there.

When connecting to existing work, measure the current state and look for the nearest shade to that; with weathered blue, comparing with the original code almost always goes wrong. For approval, use the A4 colour samples as the colour standard, at a larger size than a fan-deck sample, and under the light of the final situation.

Technical data

Hue: 240 · Shades: 51 · Lightness: L\* 20–90 · Saturation: C\* 05–40 · Lab values: per shade on the colour page · LRV: 6.1 to 78.0 · 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 230, RAL Design 250

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