This is NCS Colour

Universal Standard for Colour Communication

ABOUT NCS COLOUR

40+ years of colour research

For more than 40 years, NCS Colour has revolutionised how to communicate colour and continues to do so. With NCS – Natural Colour System© as the core, we offer premium products and services with the highest quality to all industries and professionals working with colour. In honor of NCS System's 40th anniversary 2019, we continue to celebrate our past and present and look forward to many colourful years to come.

"The only true correct definition of colour: Colour is what we see as colour. Colours are created in the psyche, in the very moment we perceive them, and as long as we look at them. It is important in colour science to distinguish between physical colour (physics) and perceptual colour (psychology), what we see as colour."

– Lars Sivik, 1965, co-founder of NCS – Natural Colour System®

More of NCS

NCS – An international recognised colour standard

The same colour must be possible to produce on different materials and products from different manufacturers. The function of the exact colour is very important. This can be everything from the colour of emergency exit signs, colour marking of needles within the healthcare segment to the colour of our Swedish flag. What all of these examples have in common is that the colours must be the same regardless of the manufacturer in order for people to recognise them.

The Natural Colour System® is a standardized colour communication system that always provides you with the right colour choice. 

If you are interested in how the system works, please click here

”NCS", ”Natural Colour System”, "COLOURPIN" and "CAPQ" wordmarks and/or logos are registered trademarks of NCS Colour AB in several jurisdictions. Natural Colour System and products and services based thereon are protected by copyright and database rights of NCS Colour AB. The NCS Colour Triangle is a registered design of NCS Colour AB. All rights reserved. In order to benefit from the smartness of the NCS system and if you wish to use our trademarks, designs, the Natural Colour System or any part of our website, mobile app or software for your own products or services, you need to obtain a license from NCS Colour AB.   

The NCS System has been adopted as a standard in:  

  • Sweden; NCS färgatlas (SS 19102), Färgbeteckningssystem (SS 19100) and NCS-färgprover - Betraknings- och mätvillkor samt toleranser (SS 19104)
  • Norway; NCS fargeatlas (NS-SS 19102)
  • Spain; Colores normalizados (UNE 48103)
  • South Africa; National colour standard (SANS 1091)
  • ASTM International (USA); Standard Practice for Specifying Color by the Natural Colour System (NCS) (ASTM E2970)

Find NCS related colour literature here.