The History of Colors in Racing: From the 1920s to the Singapore GP

A black and green Mercedes, a tribute to Petronas’ 50th anniversary, and a Racing Bull painted like a pair of HUGO jeans, complete with stitching, rips, and even a zipper dividing sections of the car – an idea once used by BAR Formula 1 – demonstrate how Formula 1 cars have become vital advertising tools. This was evident at the Singapore GP on Sunday, September 22.

Until 1968, cars in international races had to sport the colors of their country. For Bugatti, this was blue, representing France.

Today, it’s normal to see sponsorships in sports, but in Europe, this was prohibited for a long time. Particularly in motorsport, from the 1920s until 1968, cars competing in international races were required to carry national colors without any alterations or commercial logos.

The iconic "British Racing Green" associated with English cars, shown here on Stirling Moss’s Vanwall.

These colors, assigned by the International Federation, were as follows: British Green for the UK, Blue for France, Red for Italy, White for Germany, Yellow for Belgium, White and Blue for the US, and White and Red for Japan. The dominant white in the American and Japanese cars led to blue stripes for the US and red circles for Japan.

Japanese cars, like this Honda RA272, were white with red dots.

The color had to represent the "entrant" – the individual or team entering the car, not necessarily the manufacturer. As a result, there were yellow Ferraris registered by the Equipe National Belge, white and blue ones entered by American Ferrari customers, and others.

The Ecurie Francorchamps made yellow Ferraris famous, the color representing Belgium. Here, a 156 F1 that dominated Spa in 1961.

This tradition had its merits in a time when races weren’t broadcast on TV and had little commentary. The public needed to distinguish cars on their own. Without sponsors, race numbers were large and visible – a tradition now largely lost to advertising.

The American white and blue of NART Chinetti, dressing Surtees’ Ferrari in his 1964 World Champion season.

There are numerous anecdotes about the car colors of the time: some people in France still believe Ferraris were yellow, and many don't know that German cars turned silver when, in the 1930s, Mercedes stripped the paint off their white cars to meet the 750 KG weight limit, leaving the aluminum body exposed.

Germany was originally assigned white, but the “Silver Arrows” of Mercedes in the 1930s introduced the silver look after removing paint for weight compliance.

Even more surprising was Mercedes' earlier decision to race the Targa Florio, a public-road race in Sicily, with their cars painted red to avoid sabotage, as Italian spectators would have rejected non-Italian cars! Next week, the story continues with the introduction of major sponsors in the 1970s.

Italy and its unmistakable red. Nino Farina with the 1951 World Champion Alfa Romeo 158.