Two letter short form of colours used in wiring and electroincs

[ScottBouch]

Hi all,

Regarding two-letter short-form codes for colours; where I served my apprenticeship at Spectron Lasers, they used the method of taking the first and last letters of each colour. This system was used for wire core colours and resistor bands, etc... The "first and last" abbreviation system is infallible as no two colours begin and end with the same letters.

I want to know if there is a BS, ISO, IEC, IEEE (etc..) standard where this "first and last" system appears that I can reference?

You sometimes see the first two letters used, but this falls over with black and blue.

The system used by the two standards highlighted below mainly use first and last letters, but also throw in some sporadic combinations of letters for confusion:

IEC 60757 electronic colour code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electr...code#IEC_60757

DIN 47100 telecommunication cables https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIN_47100

BK (first and last letters)
BN (first and last letters)
RD (first and last letters)
OG
YE
GN (first and last letters)
BU
VT (first and last letters)
GY (first and last letters)
WH
PK (first and last letters)
SR (first and last letters)
GD (first and last letters)

I can see these letters have been selected for the phonic sound of them to represent the colour words, but it's a system that takes learning, and can't be picked up instantly like the "first and last" letter abbreviation system below:

BN
RD
OE
YW
GN
BE
VT
GY
WE
PK
SR
GD

So, my question is, is the "first and last" abbreviation system used or documented by any standards or specifications?

Cheers, Scott.

[kellys_eye]

Much like the phonetic alphabet has 'official' and unofficial versions (Bravo, Baker etc), provided the information is parsed correctly I don't think it really makes much difference.

[ScottBouch]

Indeed, but for a project I'm working on, I'd ideally need to specify a standard or specification if possible.