Federal Standard 595
Encyclopedia
The Federal Standard color system, officially named Federal Standard 595C - Colors Used in Government Procurement, is a United States
Federal Standard, issued by the General Services Administration
. The standard is also widely referred to as FED-STD-595, FS-595, or similar names with the version letter appended.
Federal Standard 595 is the color description and communication system developed in 1956 by the United States government. Its origins reach back to World War II
when a problem of providing exact color specifications to military equipment subcontractors in different parts of the World became a matter of urgency.
Similarly to other color standards of the pre-digital era such as RAL Classic or British Standard 4800, the Federal Standard 595 is a color collection rather than color space
. The standard is built upon a set of colour shades where a unique reference number is assigned to each color. This collection is then printed on sample color chips and provided to the interested parties. In contrast, modern color systems such as Natural Color System
and RAL Design are built upon a color space
paradigm, providing for much more flexibility and wider range of applications.
Each color in the Federal Standard 595 range is identified by a five-digit code. The colors in the standard have no official names, just numbers.
The initial standard FED-STD-595 issued in March 1956 contained 358 colors. Revision A issued in January 1968 counted 437 colors. Current Revision B Change 1 from January 1994 counts 611 colors.
Federal Standard 595C was published January 16, 2008. No previous colors were removed. Thirty nine new colors were added for a total of 650 colors. On July 31, 2008 595C Change Order 1 was published, changing the numbers of 8 of colors added in revision C. The revision C master reference list of colors provides all available reference information for these colors, including tristimulus values, pigments and 60° gloss level and color name as applicable. Note: As before, all color matching must still be done via color reference chips.
Many prime contractors such as L3 require the Fed Std 595 paint chips used for inspection purposes be replaced every 2 years.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Federal Standard, issued by the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
. The standard is also widely referred to as FED-STD-595, FS-595, or similar names with the version letter appended.
Federal Standard 595 is the color description and communication system developed in 1956 by the United States government. Its origins reach back to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when a problem of providing exact color specifications to military equipment subcontractors in different parts of the World became a matter of urgency.
Similarly to other color standards of the pre-digital era such as RAL Classic or British Standard 4800, the Federal Standard 595 is a color collection rather than color space
Color space
A color model is an abstract mathematical model describing the way colors can be represented as tuples of numbers, typically as three or four values or color components...
. The standard is built upon a set of colour shades where a unique reference number is assigned to each color. This collection is then printed on sample color chips and provided to the interested parties. In contrast, modern color systems such as Natural Color System
Natural Color System
The Natural Color System is a proprietary perceptual color model published by the Scandinavian Colour Institute of Stockholm, Sweden. It is based on the color opponency description of color vision, first proposed by German physiologist Ewald Hering...
and RAL Design are built upon a color space
Color space
A color model is an abstract mathematical model describing the way colors can be represented as tuples of numbers, typically as three or four values or color components...
paradigm, providing for much more flexibility and wider range of applications.
Each color in the Federal Standard 595 range is identified by a five-digit code. The colors in the standard have no official names, just numbers.
The initial standard FED-STD-595 issued in March 1956 contained 358 colors. Revision A issued in January 1968 counted 437 colors. Current Revision B Change 1 from January 1994 counts 611 colors.
Federal Standard 595C was published January 16, 2008. No previous colors were removed. Thirty nine new colors were added for a total of 650 colors. On July 31, 2008 595C Change Order 1 was published, changing the numbers of 8 of colors added in revision C. The revision C master reference list of colors provides all available reference information for these colors, including tristimulus values, pigments and 60° gloss level and color name as applicable. Note: As before, all color matching must still be done via color reference chips.
Many prime contractors such as L3 require the Fed Std 595 paint chips used for inspection purposes be replaced every 2 years.
External links
- Federal Standard 595C, 2008. PDF files available from the website of the US military.
- Federal Standard 595B Rev Dec 1989, the previous version, FED-STD-595B, from 1989, revised in 1994
- colorserver.net, the “Federal Standard 595 Color Server”, a third-party website based on the 1994 revision of FED-STD-595B
- Revision history of Federal Standard 595 at colorserver.net
- Understanding the FS 595 color numbers at colorserver.net
- fed-std-595.com, the “Fed-Std-595B Specification Reference Site”, a third party website based on FED-STD-595 which graphically depicts each color.