| RGB: (0, 66, 37) |
| RGB: (0, 51, 0) |
| RGB: (2, 28, 19) |
| RGB: (12, 25, 17) |
| RGB: (27, 77, 62) |
| shades of British racing green with their RGB values |
British racing green, officially known as deep brunswick green, is the international motor racing colour of Great Britain.
The dark green colour was used for the uniforms of the cavalrymen of Braunschweig, Germany, and later by British riflemen in the late eighteenth century. The current British Royal Family traces its origin to the House of Hanover, also known as the House of Brunswick, Hanover Line, and Brunswick Green therefore acquired British national symbolism.
Certain British railway companies, such as the Great Western Railway chose to paint their locomotives in this colour, starting in the late nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, this heritage of speed resulted it in becoming the colour chosen for British racing cars in international competition, before the displaying of the logos of sponsors became common.
In the days of the Gordon Bennett Cup, every component of a car had to be produced in the competing country, as well as the driver being of that nationality. The race was hosted in the country of the previous year's winner. When Selwyn Edge won the 1902 race for Britain in a Napier it was decided that the 1903 race would be held in Ireland, Motor Racing being illegal at the time in Great Britian and the opening of Brooklands was still 4 years in the future. As a mark of respect for their hosts the British cars were painted green and this has remained the traditional colour for British racing cars to this day.
William Grover-Williams, driving for Britain, won the very first Monaco Grand Prix in a dark green Bugatti. This colour became known as British Racing Green and was regarded as the "official" colour especially in the 1950s and 1960s, when British or UK-based teams like Vanwall, Cooper, Team Lotus, BRM, Brabham were successful in Formula One. Green cars dominated the grid.
In 1968, sponsors were allowed in F1, and the previously common green color soon disappeared, being replaced by various liveries. The history of the famous greens was revived in 2000 by Jaguar, but after this team was sold to Red Bull by Ford in 2004, the new Red Bull Racing team used their own colors.
British Racing Green has British Standard Colour Code #BS 381 C, and can range from dark green to nearly black.
With the many successes of the British racing teams through the years, British Racing Green became a popular paint choice for British sports and luxury cars, and a popular choice for the Mini Cooper and the BMW MINI.