Over 400 years ago, Finnish-Swedish theologian and astronomer Aron Sigfrid Forsius developed the first known colour space, the Forsius Globe, in his 1611 work Physica. He argued that colour perception requires transparency, clearness, and moderate distance, emphasizing that colour cannot be seen in the dark and that distance affects its perception. Forsius believed white and black were the primary colours from which all others originated and identified six elementary colours: yellow, red, blue, green, white, and black, focusing on human colour perception rather than pigments or light.

Today, the Forsius Globe is considered the precursor to the NCS Colour Space. Forsius' insights into colour perception and the six elementary colours laid the foundation for the NCS system and influenced modern colour systems.

In 1874, German scientist Ewald Hering expanded upon these ideas with his Opponent Colour Theory, which demonstrated that human colour perception is based on six elementary colours: black, white, yellow, red, blue and green. These colours are distinct from each other, with none resembling any of the others. Hering proposed that the human visual system processes colours by comparing opposing pairs, such as red-green and blue yellow. A key finding of his theory was that colours cannot be simultaneously reddish and greenish, or bluish and yellowish, which led him to call his model Opponent Colour Theory.

Hering's system was called Natural, since it reflects the way colours are inherently ordered in the human brain. This became the foundation for the Natural Colour System (NCS), which, unlike other colour systems, is entirely based on human colour perception.

During the 1920s Swedish colour research was initiated to create a system based on human perception of colour. Under the leadership of Anders Hård, psychologists, physicists, and designers like Sven Hesselgren collaborated to develop and document the NCS (Natural Colour System).

In the early 1930s, the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design (today Svensk Form) began educating the public on colour usage, as new technology allowed for more variety. By the 1930s, industrial advances and societal needs amplified the demand for a reliable and comprehensive colour system. Swedish researchers Tryggve Johansson and Sven Hesselgren recognised this growing need.

In the late 1930s, Swedish colour researcher and physician Tryggve Johansson began exploring Hering's theories on colour perception. He expanded on Hering's theories, leading to the development of the concept Natural Colour System in 1937.

Architect Sven Hesselgren further developed this work, recognizing the growing demand from industries and scientific institutions for a comprehensive, durable colour system with quality samples. Together their work highlighted the need for a scientifically rigorous, practical, and intuitive colour system. The NCS system emerged to bridge the gap between colour perception and the needs of design, industry, and science.

In 1938, Torsten Palmer together with Hesselgren, Johansson and Sjögren created the first commercial, neutral, product independent colour card collection with 285 colours: Hesselgren & Sjögren Colour Sample Collection. They faced challenges, such as the lack of colour card manufacturing plants, so they had to rely on a wallpaper manufacturer where they could spray the paint on top of it. Already at that time based on the foundation of the natural colour system.

The NCS system was developed to reflect colour perception while meeting industries' need for a reliable, standardised method to communicate and reproduce colours.