Why Is Construction Equipment Yellow? The Story Behind the Colours
Yellow excavators, orange Hitachis, green Deeres and red Manitous: why do construction machines come in such distinctive colours?
Look across almost any jobsite and you will see yellow. But Hitachi is orange, John Deere farm machines are green, Manitou is red and Kobelco is blue. Where did these colours come from?
Caterpillar and "Hi-Way Yellow"
Early crawler tractors were painted grey. In 1931, Caterpillar switched to a bright yellow that it called "Hi-Way Yellow". The reasons commonly cited are visibility and safety (yellow stands out on roadsides and dusty sites) and brand identity during the Great Depression. Yellow became so associated with earthmoving that many other manufacturers adopted similar shades.
Why yellow works
- High visibility in daylight against soil, grass and sky.
- Signals "caution" to people on foot.
- Hides dust better than white.
- Creates strong brand recognition.
Other brand colours
| Brand | Colour |
|---|---|
| Caterpillar | Cat Yellow |
| Komatsu | Yellow (and white in Japan) |
| Hitachi | Orange |
| Kobelco | Blue-green |
| John Deere | Construction yellow; farm green |
| Kubota | Orange |
| Manitou | Red |
| Merlo | Green |
| Bobcat | White and orange |
| JLG | Orange |
| Genie | Blue |
| Liebherr | Yellow and grey |
Do colours matter?
For safety, high-visibility colours help. For owners, brand colours matter at resale: a machine repainted in non-standard colours can be harder to sell. Rental companies sometimes paint machines in their own colours to discourage theft and build brand recognition.
