Jump to content

Vehicle Record Cards Colour Codes


Charlie

Recommended Posts

Pretty much Charlie the second element is officially the finish, gloss or matt but within that the pattern is included.

 

It is defined in the Materiel Regulations for the Army. Gone to bed I'll post up the key tomorrow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First Character - Colour

1 Red

2 Blue

3 Yellow

4 Brown

5 Black

6 Orange

7 Green

8 White

9 Grey

0 Multi-coloured

A Army/NATO Green

R RAF Blue

N Royal Navy Blue

S Sand

C Civilian - Any Commercial Colour

Second Character - Finish

1 Matt

2 Gloss

3 Trade Finish (for commercial vehicles & cars)

4 Disruptive Pattern

5 Distinctive Pattern

6 Infra Red Reflective - IRR

7 Infra Red Reflective - IRR Disruptive Pattern

8 Distinctive Pattern IRR

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This has cropped up elsewhere, on a Land Rover forum I think.

 

My conclusion there was that it is way of recording that the colour was not known when the card was filled out. That was preferable to leaving it blank suggesting that it was an omission of error. Similarly I have seen a record card showing an Asset Code of 0000-0000.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting, I'm guessing the R code wasn't used on cards much- all of the RAF vehicle cards I've dealt with record the colour using the crafty method of just writing "Blue" "Green" etc.

 

Ah yes much more user friendly!

 

But presumably those cards pre-date 1st January 1976 when the Army assumed the responsibility for RAF MT & became the Single Service Manager. I suppose a two-character code lends itself more to the data processing systems used by the Army starting with VESPER then SALOME & now JAMES.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After reading that i used the very unscientific method of "a quick look", and yes about that time, maybe a bit before the codes start being used. Although, quite a few use the code and description such as one for a trailer who's DIS was 1980: "76 Green"

It would make an interesting avenue of study for someone, unfortunately I've too much on my plate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was wondering whether these record cards after Jan 1976 were still RAF cards or Army ones (DOS Form 419B)?

 

If the RAF ones were still being used, perhaps as a slight act of defiance or for local convenience, it may have been felt that the colour in words would continue to be included?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a switch, and the army forms don't give much space - just enough to put the code.

Perhaps the RAF were actually being sensible for once- the codes do nothing but cause more work looking in the manual to find out what they mean. Actually writing it out takes a few seconds more at the time, but is much easier to read back later on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...