List of international auto racing colors

From the beginning of organised motor sport events, in the early 1900s, until the late 1960s, before commercial sponsorship liveries came into common use, vehicles competing in Formula One, sports car racing, touring car racing and other international auto racing competitions customarily painted their cars in standardized racing colours that indicated the nation of origin of the car or driver. These were often quite different from the national colours used in other sports or in politics.

History [edit]

The colours most likely have their origin in the national teams competing in the Gordon Bennett Cup, which was held annually in 1900-1905. Although colours were not assigned every year, the competition in 1900 assigned blue to France, yellow to Belgium, white to Germany and red to the USA, and the competitions in 1903 and 1905 added green for the UK. Colours were definitely established in the 1920s and 1930s era of Grand Prix motor racing an listed by the AiACr (forerunner of the FIA), when blue Bugatti of France and the red Alfa Romeo of Italy dominated many races. Colours were defined in terms of body, bonnet, chassis and numbers (including background). When the chassis was no longer exposed, the chassis colour was shown in various ways, e.g. the parallel blue stripes of the Cunningham team and other US teams/drivers in the 1950s.

In the 1930s the Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union teams did not apply the traditional German white paint, and the bare sheets of metal gave rise to the term Silver Arrows. Porsche in the 1950s and 1960s also retained the silver colouring, although other German teams in the 1960s (such as BMW) returned to white paint. Other German manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz and Audi (Auto Union) used silver paint when they returned to international racing in the 1990s. It is not known why the German teams in the 1930s did not apply white paint, although a myth developed that it was due to the need to be under a weight limit; however the first "Silver Arrow" raced in 1932, before a weight limit was imposed.

In the spring of 1968, sponsorship liveries, which already had been used in the United States for some years, were also allowed in international racing. Team Gunston was the first Formula One team to paint their cars in the livery of their sponsors when they entered a private Brabham for John Love, painted in the colours of Gunston cigarettes, in the 1968 South African Grand Prix. British Racing Green soon vanished from the cars of British private teams, although the Rosso Corsa used by Scuderia Ferrari and Alfa Romeo has been in continuous use to the present day, albeit in a modified form.

In the 2000s, the traditional colours have resurfaced in a few cases, such as the green Jaguar Racing F1 cars and Aston Martin sports cars, the white BMW Sauber F1 or the silver Mercedes.

The annual A1 Grand Prix series of 2005-2009 featured national teams, driving identical cars with differing colour schemes. Initially, most schemes were based on the respective national flags;^[1] some teams with different traditional sporting colours have since switched, including A1 Team Australia^[2] and A1 Team India.^[3] The old national racing colors were not so popular among these teams.

Contemporary usage [edit]

Although this colour scheme was abandoned by the FIA for most racing disciplines in the 1970s, it is still informally used, especially by Italian, British and German automakers and teams that want to emphasize their racing traditions. Often, sponsorship agreements respect this. Many concept cars follow the color scheme, and many amateur racers prefer them as well.

Historic colours [edit]

Major competitors [edit]

These have stuck as a pattern, and are common outside of international Grand Prix racing.

German Blitzen Benz (1909)

French Bugatti Type 35C (1926)

German Silberpfeile (1930s)

American Shelby Daytona (1964)

Japanese Honda RA272 (1965)

American Ford GT40 (1965)

British Lotus 49 (early 1968)

Brazilian Fittipaldi Automotive F5A (1977)

Italian Alfa Romeo 33 (1977)

German Audi R8 (2006)

Code	Country	Body	Numbers	Marques/Teams
D	Germany	White	Red	Benz, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche
D	Germany	Silver (or bare metal (Silver Arrows))	Red	Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union, Veritas, Borgward, EMW, Porsche, Audi
F	France	Blue (Bleu de France)	White	Delage, Bugatti, Talbot, Delahaye, Matra, Panhard, Alpine, Gordini, Peugeot, Ballot
GB	United Kingdom	Green (British racing green)	White	Jaguar, Vanwall, Cooper, Lotus, Brabham, BRM, Bentley, Aston Martin
I	Italy	Red (Rosso corsa)	White	Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lancia, Ferrari, Abarth, O.S.C.A., Officine Meccaniche
J	Japan	White with red "sun"	Black	Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Super Aguri
USA	United States	White, Blue lengthwise stripes ("Cunningham racing stripes"), (originally) Blue underframe	Blue	Cunningham, Ford, NART, Shelby, Chaparral
USA	United States	Blue (Imperial blue), White lengthwise stripes, White underframe	White	AAR Eagle, Ford, Shelby, Scarab

National list [edit]

The following schemes have been adopted for various countries at various times:

Code	Country	Body	Bonnet	Other Colours	Numbers
A	Austria	Blue			Black on white
ARG	Argentina	Blue	Yellow	Chassis: Black	Red on White
AUS	Australia	Green	Gold	Blue	Black
B	Belgium	Yellow			Black
BR	Brazil	Pale yellow		Chassis/Wheels: Green. Sometimes, Brazilian cars featured lengthwise green stripes	Black
BUL	Bulgaria	Green	White		Red on white
C	Cuba	Yellow	Black		Black on white
CDN	Canada	Traditional colours are white and green parallel stripes		After the Canadian flag was changed in 1965 Red with wide lengthwise white stripes became popular	Black
CH	Switzerland	Red	White		Black
CS	Czechoslovakia	White	Blue/white	Underframe: Red	Blue
D	Germany	White		bare metal (aluminium, "Silver Arrows")	Red
DK	Denmark	Silver-grey		National flag as a lengthwise stripe on bonnet	Red on white
E	Spain	Red	Yellow	Chassis/Springs: Red	Black on yellow or white on red
ET	Egypt	Pale violet			Red on white
F	France	Blue			White
FIN	Finland	White		Two blue stripes on bonnet shaping a Latin cross	Black on white
GB	United Kingdom	Green		Scottish entrant Rob Walker used dark blue with a white noseband and Ecurie Ecosse also used dark blue; the Arrol Johnston team pre-World War 1 used navy tartan	White
GR	Greece	Pale Blue		Two white lengthwise stripes on bonnet	Black on white
H	Hungary	Front: White Rear: Green	Red		Black
HJK	Jordan	Brown			Black on white
I	Italy	Red			White
IRL	Ireland	Green		Horizontal band of orange all around	White
J	Japan	Ivory White		Red disk on bonnet	White on black
L	Luxembourg	Tricolor lengthwise stripe (red/white/blue) from front to rear			Black on white
MAS	Malaysia	Yellow		White	Black on white/Black
MC	Monaco	White		Red lengthwise band around car	Black on white
MEX	Mexico	Gold		Different designs in royal blue (Not strictly an X on the bonnet)	Black on white (not red on white)
NL	Netherlands	Orange			White
NZ	New Zealand	Green and silver		Black and silver^[4]
PHI	Philippines	Red	Blue	Red
P	Portugal	Red		Underframe: White	White
PL	Poland	White		Underframe: Red	Red on white
RCH	Chile	Red	Blue	Underframe: White	Blue/red or red on white
S	Sweden	Blue bottom, yellow top, three cross bands of blue on top of bonnet			White
T	Thailand	Pale blue with yellow horizontal band around body and bonnet		Wheels: Pale yellow	White on blue
U	Uruguay	Pale blue with large red band around the lower part of bonnet			White on black
USA	United States	White with blue lengthwise stripes		Underframe: Blue	Blue on white
ZA	South Africa	Gold	Green		Black on yellow