The electronic color code is used to indicate the values or ratings of electronic components, very commonly for resistors, but also for capacitors, inductors, and others. A separate code, the 25-pair color code, is used to identify wires in some telecommunications cables.
The electronic color code was developed in the early 1920s by the Radio Manufacturers Association (now part of Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA)), and was published as EIA-RS-279. The current international standard is IEC 60062.
Colorbands were commonly used (especially on resistors) because they were easily printed on tiny components, decreasing construction costs. However, there were drawbacks, especially for color blind people. Overheating of a component, or dirt accumulation, may make it impossible to distinguish brown from red from orange. Advances in printing technology have made printed numbers practical for small components, which are often found in modern electronics.
To distinguish left from right there is a gap between the C and D bands.
- band A is first significant figure of component value (left side)
- band B is the second significant figure
- band C is the decimal multiplier
- band D if present, indicates tolerance of value in percent (no color means 20%)
Resistors manufactured for military use may also include a fifth band which indicates component failure rate (reliability); refer to MIL-HDBK-199 for further details.
Tight tolerance resistors may have three bands for significant figures rather than two, and/or an additional band indicating temperature coefficient, in units of ppm/K.
All coded components will have at least two value bands and a multiplier; other bands are optional (italicised below).
- From top to bottom:
- Green-Blue-Brown-Brown
- 560 ohms ± 1%
- Red-Red-Orange-Gold
- 22,000 ohms ± 5%
- Yellow-Violet-Brown-Gold
- 470 ohms ± 5%
- Blue-Gray-Black-Silver
- 68 ohms ± 10%
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