RAL – The language of Colour

As early as 1927, RAL, in cooperation with the Muster-Schmidt company, began to define colour shades and to give them binding numbers and names. In doing so, they created a uniform language for defining colour tones in the colour world.
It began more than 90 years ago with a colour collection of 40 shades that were in great demand by industry and the public. In the meantime, we work with the impressive number of 2528 RAL colour tones.

Strict quality management guarantees the highest precision for the users. Today, the RAL colours are a worldwide known standard in industry, trade and design.

RAL and Muster-Schmidt

Since 1927, we have been partners of RAL in the production and distribution of RAL colour sample cards. Starting from our sales offices in Northeim and Zurich, we supply almost all countries with the RAL colour cards. As specialists, we guarantee the precise and lasting colour fidelity of the sample cards through our production.

Who is RAL?

Originally, RAL was known as the “Reichsausschuss für Lieferbedingungen” (Reich Committee for Delivery Conditions). Today it is a non-profit limited liability company with the shareholder “Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung”. This institution was founded in 1925 and is responsible for quality protection in the German economy. Among other things, this includes the standardization of colours.

The RAL Colors

The RAL colours are used in industry and trade, by public employers and architects and are also known worldwide. Almost all German manufacturers supply RAL-tinted colours or can at least mix them. RAL has the highest quality requirements regarding the exactness of the colours, which is not surprising, since some colours have existed in the colour register since 1927 and still have to remain identical to the colour master samples of that time. There are three RAL colour collections: RAL CLASSIC, RAL DESIGN and RAL EFFECT.