List of electronic color code mnemonics

Color	Value
Black	0
Brown	1
Red	2
Orange	3
Yellow	4
Green	5
Blue	6
Violet	7
Grey	8
White	9
Gold	±5%
Silver	±10%
None	±20%

A mnemonic which includes color name(s) generally reduces the chances of confusing black and brown. Some mnemonics that are easy to remember:

BigBoys Race OurYoung Girls ButViolet Generally Wins.

Better BeRight OrYour Great BigVenture Goes West.^[1]

Beetle Bailey Runs Over Your General Before Very Good Witnesses.

Beach Bums Rarely Offer YouGatorade ButVery Good Water.

Buster Brown Races OurYoung Girls ButViolet Generally Wins.

Better BeRight OrYour Great BigVacation GoesWrong.

Better BeRight OrYour Great BigValues GoWrong.

Better BeRight OrYour Great BigPlan GoesWrong. (with P = Purple for Violet)

Back-Breaking Rascals Often Yield Grudgingly ButVirtuous Gentlemen Will Give Shelter Nobly. (with tolerance bands Gold, Silver or None)

Better BeRight OrYour Great BigPlan GoesWrong - GoStart Now!

Black Beetles Running Over Your Garden Bring Very Grey Weather.

BadBooze Rots OurYoung Guts ButVodka Goes Well – getsome now.^[2]

BadBoys RunOver Yellow Gardenias Behind Victory Garden Walls. ^[3]

BatBrained Resistor Order YouGotta BeVery Good With.

Betty Brown Runs Over Your Garden ButViolet Gingerly Walks.

BigBeautiful Roses Occupy Your Garden ButViolets Grow Wild.

BigBrown Rabbits Often Yield Great BigVocal Groans When Gingerly Slapped Needlessly.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Black Bananas Really Offend Your Girlfriend ButViolets GetWelcomed.

Black Birds RunOver Your GayBarely Visible Grey Worms.

Badly Burnt Resistors OnYour Ground BusVoid General Warranty.

Billy Brown RanOutYelling GetBack Violets Getting Wet.

Better BeRight OrYou're Gonna BeViolently Gouged With Golden Spaghetti.

Bright Boys Rave Over Young Girls ButVeto Getting Wed.

Black Bears Raid OurYellow Green Bins Violently Grabbing Whatever Goodies Smell Nice.

BadBears Raid OurYummy Grub ButVeto Grey Waffles.

ByBeing Revolutionary, OurYoung Girls Become Very Great Women.

Bachelor Boys Rush OurYoung Girls ButVeronica Goes Wild for Gold or Silver Necklaces.

A mnemonic that is taught in classrooms in Canada:

Black Bears Roam OurYukon Grounds ButVanish in Gray Winter for Gold Silver Necklaces

A mnemonic that is commonly taught in classrooms in India:

B B ROYofGreat Britain had a Very Good Wife who wore Gold and Silver Necklace.^[7]
Bill Brown Realized Only Yesterday Good Boys Value Good Work.^[8]^[9]

Mnemonics commonly taught in UK engineering courses include:

ByeByeRosie OffYouGo to Birmingham ViaGreat Western.^[10]
ByeByeRosie OffYouGo to Bristol ViaGreat Western.^[8]
ByeByeRosie OffYouGo to Become a Very Good Wife.^[7]
Bill Brown Realized Only Yesterday Good Boys Value Good Work.^[8]^[9]

This mnemonic is commonly taught in the Netherlands:

ZijBracht Rozen OpGerrits Graf BijVies Grijs Weer (she brought roses onto Gerrit's grave in dirty grey weather)

Popular in the days of vacuum-tube radios:

Better BuyResistors OrYour Grid Bias Voltages GoWest. ("go west" means die)

The following historical mnemonics are generally considered offensive/outdated and should not be used in current electronics training:

Badboys rape ouryoung girls butViolet gives willingly.^[11]^[12] (GetSome Now (refers to the tolerance bands Gold, Silver or None))
Badboys runouryoung girls behind victory garden walls.^[13]
Batman blows Robin onyonGotham bridge; Vows Gordon's next.
Batman blows Robin onyonGotham bridge; Very good Wayne! GetSuperman Next!
Bigboys rape ouryoung girls butViolet goes willingly.
Black boys rape ouryoung girls butViolet goes willingly.
Black boys rape ouryoung girls because virgins gowild.
Black boys rape ouryoung girls behind victory garden walls.
Black boys ride ouryoung girls butvirgins gowithout.^[14]
Black boyraped ouryoung girl, bam, virginity gone west.
BaByROYofGreat Britain is Very GayWith Gold & Silver Necklace.

Casual use in an engineering class has been cited as evidence of the sexism faced by women in scientific fields.^[15] Latanya Arvette Sweeney, associate professorofcomputer scienceatCarnegie Mellon, mentions yet another as one reason why she felt alienated and eventually dropped out of MIT in the 1980s to form her own software company.^[16] In 2011, a teacher in the UK was reprimanded by the General Teaching Council for alluding to an offensive mnemonic and partial use of another.^[17]

^ "Acronyms from the Free Dictionary.com BBROYGBVGW". 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2013-05-15.

^ Campbell, Dean. "The Mnemonics Page". Bradley University Chemistry Department.

^ "USA Navy Electricity and Electronics Training Series" (PDF).

^ Niebel, Benjamin W.; Freivalds, Andris (2003). Methods, Standards, and Work Design (Eleventh ed.). McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-07-246824-3.

^ Ganssle, Jack (2004). The Firmware Handbook. Elsevier. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7506-7606-9.

^ Ganssle, Jack G.; Noergaard, Tammy; Eady, Fred; Edwards, Lewin; Katz, David J.; Gentile, Rick; Arnold, Ken; Hyder, Kamal; Perrin, Bob (2008). Embedded Hardware: Know It All. Newnes. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-7506-8584-9.

^ ^a ^b Dhir, S. M. (2000) [1999]. "Passive Components". Electronic Components and Materials: Principles, Manufacture & Maintenance (2007 fifth reprint ed.). India: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited. p. 68. ISBN 0-07-463082-2.

^ ^a ^b ^c Bhargava, N. N.; Kulshreshtha, D. C.; Gupta, S. C. (1984-01-01). "Introduction to Electronics". Basic Electronics and Linear Circuits. India: Tata Mcgraw-Hill. p. 8. ISBN 0-07-451965-4.

^ ^a ^b Gambhir, R. S. (1993). "DC Circuits". Foundations Of Physics. Vol. 2. India: New Age International. p. 49. ISBN 81-224-0523-1.

^ Sinclair, Ian (2002-03-20). "Resistors, networks and measurements". Electronic and Electrical Servicing: Level 2. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Newnes. p. 44. ISBN 0-7506-5423-6.

^ Booker, M. Keith (1993). Literature and Domination: Sex, Knowledge, and Power in Modern Fiction. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1195-7.

^ Pynchon, Thomas (1999). V. HarperCollins. p. 560. ISBN 0-06-093021-7.

^ Indiana University (1960). Midwest Folklore (v.10-11 1960-1961 ed.).

^ bigclivedotcom (2016-03-15), A simple guide to electronic components, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2016-06-25

^ Morse, Mary (2001). Women Changing Science: Voices from a Field in Transition. Basic Books. p. 308. ISBN 0-7382-0615-6.

^ Walter, Chip (2007-06-27). "Privacy Isn't Dead, or At Least It Shouldn't Be: A Q&A with Latanya Sweeney". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-07-24.

^ Hersey, James (2011-02-25). "Sussex teacher reprimanded over 'racist rhyme'". BBC News. Retrieved 2013-01-23.

List of electronic color code mnemonics

Contents

Resistor color code

Easy to remember

Canada

India

UK

Dutch

Vacuum tube era

Offensive/outdated

References

Languages