20-pair colour code (Australia)

The 20-pair colour code is a colour code used in Australia to identify individual conductors in a kind of electrical telecommunication wiring for indoor use, known as twisted pair cables. The colours are applied to the insulation that covers each conductor. The first colour is chosen from one group of five colours.

The combinations are also shown in the table below showing the colour for each wire ("1" and "2") and the pair number.

colspan="3" align="center" \| 1–20	colspan="3" align="center" \| 21–40 \|\| colspan="3" align="center" \| 41–60 \|\| colspan="3" align="center" \| 61–80 \|\| colspan="3" align="center" \| 81–100
class="wikitable"
Pair number	A leg (L+)	B leg (L−)	Pair number	A leg (L+)	B leg (L−)	Pair number	A leg (L+)	B leg (L−)	Pair number	A leg (L+)	B leg (L−)	Pair number	A leg (L+)	B leg (L−)
1	rowspan="20" \| 37px White	37px Blue	21	rowspan="20"\| 37px Yellow	37px Blue	41	rowspan="20"\| 37px Black	37px Blue	61	rowspan="20"\| 37px Violet	37px Blue	81	rowspan="20"\| 37px Red	37px Blue
2	37px Orange	22	37px Orange	42	37px Orange	62	37px Orange	82	37px Orange
3	37px Green	23	37px Green	43	37px Green	63	37px Green	83	37px Green
4	37px Brown	24	37px Brown	44	37px Brown	64	37px Brown	84	37px Brown
5	37px Grey	25	37px Grey	45	37px Grey	65	37px Grey	85	37px Grey
6	37px Blue–white	26	37px Blue–white	46	37px Blue–white	66	37px Blue–white	86	37px Blue–white
7	37px Blue–orange	27	37px Blue–orange	47	37px Blue–orange	67	37px Blue–orange	87	37px Blue–orange
8	37px Blue–green	28	37px Blue–green	48	37px Blue–green	68	37px Blue–green	88	37px Blue–green
9	37px Blue–brown	29	37px Blue–brown	49	37px Blue–brown	69	37px Blue–brown	89	37px Blue–brown
10	37px Blue–grey	30	37px Blue–grey	50	37px Blue–grey	70	37px Blue–grey	90	37px Blue–grey
11	37px Orange–white	31	37px Orange–white	51	37px Orange–white	71	37px Orange–white	91	37px Orange–white
12	37px Orange–green	32	37px Orange–green	52	37px Orange–green	72	37px Orange–green	92	37px Orange–green
13	37px Orange–brown	33	37px Orange–brown	53	37px Orange–brown	73	37px Orange–brown	93	37px Orange–brown
14	37px Orange–grey	34	37px Orange–grey	54	37px Orange–grey	74	37px Orange–grey	94	37px Orange–grey
15	37px Green–white	35	37px Green–white	55	37px Green–white	75	37px Green–white	95	37px Green–white
16	37px Green–brown	36	37px Green–brown	56	37px Green–brown	76	37px Green–brown	96	37px Green–brown
17	37px Green–grey	37	37px Green–grey	57	37px Green–grey	77	37px Green–grey	97	37px Green–grey
18	37px Brown–white	38	37px Brown–white	58	37px Brown–white	78	37px Brown–white	98	37px Brown–white
19	37px Brown–grey	39	37px Brown–grey	59	37px Brown–grey	79	37px Brown–grey	99	37px Brown–grey
20	37px Grey–white	40	37px Grey–white	60	37px Grey–white	80	37px Grey–white	100	37px Grey–white

The Australian standard specifies grey in Tables B2 to B7. There are systems in other countries where slate is used rather than grey. This is perceived as a minimisation of confusion between green and grey and their potential abbreviations: G, Gr, or Gre. No such consideration is made for black, blue, or brown, or their potential abbreviations of B, Bl, or Br.

Sources

www.commsalliance.com.au [https://www.commsalliance.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/2420/S008_2010.pdf]

20-pair colour code (Australia)

Sources

See also