Yellow taxiway and white runway airfield marking paint colours
Airfield Marking

Why Runway, Taxiway and Apron Markings Use Different Colours

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YNM Editorial

YNM Safety Technical Team

4 min read

Runways are not painted like highways

Threshold bars, designation numerals and touchdown zones are a white-dominant geometry. Yellow appears on certain holding and land-and-hold-short cues. Mixing highway yellow edge-line habits onto a runway is a classic submittal error.

Taxiways speak yellow

Centreline, enhanced centreline and surface-painted taxi signs are yellow-led. Black borders are used where contrast against light concrete is poor. Red is reserved for specific holding / no-entry cues — not decoration.

Aprons add stand and GSE colours

Stand lead-ins, equipment restraint lines and safety envelopes pull in white, yellow, red, blue and orange depending on the airport’s stand chart. Always attach that chart to the paint order.

Where to see the full colour lists

Each application card on the airfield marking paint manufacturers page lists alternative names and the colour combinations we batch for that geometry.

Written By: YNM Editorial, YNM Safety Technical Team

Reviewed By: Testing & Quality Assurance Team

Airfield MarkingICAOColours

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