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House Electrical Wire Color Chart

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Summary: Electrical wire colors for most typical home electrical wiring. The chart below includes UK electrical wire, EU electrical wire, Australia electrical wire, New Zealand electrical wire, South Africa electrical wire, Canada electrical wire and United States electrical wire.

The Electrical Wire Identification System
	To enable wires to be easily and safely identified all common wiring safety codes follow a structured color scheme for the insulation of electrical wire. There are local rules and exceptions that exist based upon the exact application. Many older wire installations may vary in color codes, and color may fade or change with heat and age of insulation.

Standard wire colors for flexible cable such as Extension cords, power (line) cords and lamp cords
World Region, country or other entity(ies)	Live	Neutral	Protective earth/ground
EU, Australia & South Africa (IEC 60446)	brown	blue	green & yellow
Australia & New Zealand (AS/NZS 3000:2007 3.8.1)	brown	light blue	green/yellow
United States and Canada	black (brass)	white (silver)	green (green)
Standard wire colors for fixed cable (In or behind the wall wiring cables)
Region	Live	Neutral	Protective earth/ground
EU (IEC 60446) including UK from 31 March 2004	brown	blue	green & yellow
Australia and South Africa	red	black	green & yellow (core is usually bare and should be sleeved at terminations. In Australia the earth core has been separately insulated with green or green/yellow plastic since about 1980.
United States and Canada	120/208/240V: black, red, blue (brass) 277/480V: brown, orange, yellow	120/208/240V: white (silver) 277/480V: gray	green (green) or bare copper wire Isolated ground: Green with yellow stripe
Note: the colors in this table represent the most common and preferred standard colors for typical home wiring however others may be in use, especially in older installations.