The legacy of British Racing Green car paint colour
British Racing Green is not actually an official paint colour. Rather, it’s a general term for a darker shade of green that has its roots in British motorsport.
Nevertheless, British Racing Green has been with us since the turn of the 20th century. And over the years this paint colour has become so recognisable that many car makers don the paint colour for their vehicles.
Racing roots
As the name suggests, British Racing Green (BRG) got its name from racing origins. Way back in 1900, an American sports enthusiast and publisher took it upon himself to organise a motor race. This race became known as the Gordon Bennet Cup and is the predecessor of the Grand Prix.
Lasting until 1905, the Gordon Bennet Cup was held in different countries annually. In 1902 it was held in France, and in 1903 it was scheduled to be held in the UK. However, the UK speed limit at the time was a miserable 12mph, which even for those days was incredibly slow. To make matters worse, the UK had also banned motor racing entirely throughout the country - bad news for British motor racers.
The solution therefore was to move the race to Ireland, where there was no speed limit. Denied the obvious choice of choosing red, white and blue paint colours, as a homage to the Union Jack, the British racers instead painted their cars a deep shade of green. The specific paint colour at the time was Shamrock Green, which unfortunately is discontinued (but there are similar shades available like BMW Irish Green).
Coined through tradition
Although the name ‘British Racing Green’ still hadn’t been coined yet, the British racers had unknowingly kick-started a racing tradition. Following the Gordon Bennett Cup in the 1900s, British car manufacturers like Aston Martin, Lotus and Bentley who contributed their cars to racing, adopted various shades of green.
Of these, the most notable was Bugatti in the 1920s. A dark shade of green adorned a Bugatti 35B, of William Grover-Williams who was racing in the 1929 Monaco Grand Prix.
A dark shade of green was religiously the paint colour of choice, until the late 1930s, when the Code Sportif International made it mandatory for any British racing team that was competing in the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). From here on out, the name ‘British Racing Green’ was born.
An enduring legacy
Historically, especially in the 1950s and 60s, marques like Aston Martin, Lotus and British Racing Motors (BRM) all used their own shade of British Racing Green during the Formula One races in the 50s and 60s.
The FIA, the governing body of F1, insisted that all British teams competing in the F1 had to have their cars in British Racing Green.
The enduring legacy of British Racing Green lives on even today, with marques like Aston Martin still using a shade of British Racing Green for their cars during the Formula One races. Manufacturers such as Jaguar and Bentley deploy a variant of the iconic colour for their teams in other racing series too.
What brand uses British Racing Green?
Because British Racing Green is a general term for a dark shade of green, traditionally used in motor racing, there is no specific colour shade that can be said is the original British Racing Green, and so many brands have their versions of the paint colour.
Can I use any British Racing Green Touch Up Paint?
Although the paint colour might be called British Racing Green, each brand has its own shade. Some brands, however, do share their paint colours with others like Audi and Volkswagen. Refer to your vehicle’s specific paint code, or submit your registration number via our website to be sure you’re using the correct shade of British Racing Green touch up paint to fix damage to your paintwork.
Luckily, we stock hundreds of paint colours from many of the major brands, including their own versions of British Racing Green like:
- Land Rover British Racing Green 5 Metallic 2241
- MG British Racing Green GN.25
- Jaguar British Racing Green 67 254
- Aston Martin British Racing Green r1509/02
- Lotus British Racing Green Metallic B86
- Mini British Racing Green IV Pearl C3B
If you’re unsure of the exact colour of your vehicle, get in touch with us before ordering your paint and we’ll be happy to help.
Order your car touch up paint
We stock dozens of paint colours for touch up paint. No matter what paintwork you need fixing, we likely have the paint colour for your car.
PaintNuts can mix all modern car and most classic car colours for colour match touch up car paint, available as a high precision pen, bottle and brush or car spray paint/aerosol. Just enter your car reg on our website, and off you go.