DIN 47100 Colours

The DIN Standard, DIN 47100, is used to identify the colour-coding for identifying cores in telecommunication cables. The standard was withdrawn without a replacement in November 1998, but cable manufacturers and people making cable drawings continue to use it widely.

The DIN 47100 colours are also commonly used when marking up loom drawings, as they give a very shorthand way of identifying conductor colours without having to write out the colour names in full. To the right, I have reproduced an example wiring harness drawn in WireVis, showing the use of the DIN 47100 colour-coding and one way of marking up connector cavities and conductor cross-sectional area.

I will usually only use the first ten codes, except for one striped cable that is explicitly not in the standard: Green-Yellow (GNYE).

The standard was initially used for multi-core telecommunication cables. Insulation of the individual conductors that make up a wire is either solidly coloured in one colour or striped lengthwise in two colours. Use of the three-coloured wires numbered 45 and up is rare.

Why is Green/Yellow not part of the standard?

Green Yellow cable or Green cable with a yellow stripe is only to be used as a protective earth; as such, it can not be used as a colour code on a conductor in a telecommunication cable for any other use.

Cable identification to DIN 47100

I have included the information in the table below. I usually only use the first ten colours, and not in their numerical order.