International orange is a color used in the

aerospace industry Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

to set objects apart from their surroundings, similar to

safety orange Safety orange (also known as blaze orange, vivid orange, OSHA orange, hunter orange, or Caltrans orange) is a hue. Safety orange is used to set objects apart from their surroundings, particularly in complementary contrast to the azure colo ...

, but deeper and with a more reddish tone.

Variations of international orange

Aerospace

The

Advanced Crew Escape Suit The Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES), or "pumpkin suit", is a full pressure suit that Space Shuttle crews began wearing after STS-65, for the ascent and entry portions of flight. The suit is a direct descendant of the U.S. Air Force high-altitu ...

s pressure suits worn by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

astronauts and the previous

Launch Entry Suit The Launch Entry Suit (LES), known as the "pumpkin suit", is a partial-pressure suit that was worn by all Space Shuttle crews for the ascent and entry portions of flight from STS-26 (1988) to STS-65 (1994). It was completely phased out by STS-88 ...

use this color, as opposed to the lighter tone of

used by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

's high-altitude suits. This was also planned for the

Constellation Space Suit The Constellation Space Suit was a planned full pressure suit system that would have served as an intra-vehicular activity (IVA) and extra-vehicular activity (EVA) garment for the proposed Project Constellation flights. The design of the suit ...

systems that were to be flight-ready by 2015. Launch entry suit

The

Bell X-1 The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics– U.S. Army Air Forces–U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by Be ...

, the first airplane to break the sound barrier, was also painted in International Orange. BellX1

Golden Gate Bridge

The tone of international orange used to paint the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

is slightly lighter than the standard International orange used by military contractors and in engineering, thus increasing its visibility to

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

s, but darker than the one used in aerospace. The international orange paint used on the Golden Gate Bridge is specially formulated to protect the bridge from the danger of rust from salt spray off the ocean, and from the moisture of the

San Francisco fog Fog is a common weather phenomenon in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as along the entire coastline of California extending south to the northwest coast of the Baja California Peninsula. The frequency of fog and low-lying stratus clouds is ...

that frequently rolls in from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

through the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by th ...

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

. The

25 de Abril Bridge The 25 de Abril Bridge ( pt, Ponte 25 de Abril, 25th of April Bridge, ) is a suspension bridge connecting the city of Lisbon, capital of Portugal, to the municipality of Almada on the left (south) bank of the Tagus river. It has a total len ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

also uses this color.

Engineering

The adjacent box displays the generic tone of ''international orange'' used by

military contractor The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and servi ...

s and in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

generally. The source of this color is

Federal Standard 595 Federal Standard 595, known as SAE AMS-STD-595 – Colors Used in Government Procurement, formerly FED-STD-595, is a United States Federal Standard for colors, issued by the General Services Administration. History FED-STD-595, 595A, and 5 ...

, a

U.S. federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 ...

standard set up in 1956 for paint colors which is mostly used by military contractors and also in engineering. ''International Orange'' is designated as Federal Standard 595 color #FS 12197. In accordance with

air safety Aviation safety is the study and practice of managing risks in aviation. This includes preventing aviation accidents and incidents through research, educating air travel personnel, passengers and the general public, as well as the design of airc ...

regulations, some tall

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

s, e.g.

Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower in the Shiba-koen district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, built in 1958. At , it is the second- tallest structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and i ...

and the

Yerevan TV Tower Yerevan TV Tower ( hy, Երևանի հեռուստաաշտարակ, ''Yerevani herustaashtarak'') is a high lattice tower built in 1977 on Nork Hill near downtown Yerevan, Armenia. It is the tallest structure in the Caucasus, fourth-tallest tower ...

, are painted in white and international orange.

Sports

The

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

used international orange (instead of the traditional white) for the stripes on their

footballs A football is a ball inflated with air that is used to play one of the various sports known as football. In these games, with some exceptions, goals or points are scored only when the ball enters one of two designated goal-scoring areas; football ...

. The league also painted a short international orange mark on the field at the two-yard line.

Trucking

Schneider National Schneider National, Inc. is a provider of truckload, intermodal and logistics services. Schneider's services include regional, long-haul, expedited, dedicated, bulk, intermodal, brokerage, cross-dock logistics, pool point distribution, supply ...

paints its trucks/tractors/trailers "international safety orange" (Omaha orange, PMS 165).

Apple Watch

Apple Watch Ultra features a high-contrast international orange action button.

References

External links

A 12-page 1988 GSA-approved specifications for International Orange paint, including other "formulas"Archived
on June 21, 2010, via the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

.) {{Shades of red Shades of orange Safety Safety clothing