Switzerland's Red Trains Are a Copyrighted Color

A Shade That Belongs to a Nation

Reading Time:     4 Min.

Publication:         May 26, 2026, Jonathan Schönholzer

Switzerland’s trains are impossible to mistake. That specific red, warm and confident, flashes past meadows, tunnels, and stations from Geneva to St. Gallen. It appears on locomotives, passenger cars, and even the smallest service trolleys. But this is not just any red. It is a protected color, officially registered as SBB Red, with the code 
RAL 3020 or the HEX-Code #C1121C. The SBB protects this shade as part of its visual identity and trademark strategy.

The Swiss Federal Railways, known as SBB CFF FFS, owns this shade like a company owns a logo or a bank owns a building. The color is strongly associated with the Swiss Federal Railways and protected in specific commercial contexts connected to branding and transportation services. The color itself has become a trademark, as legally protected as the famous Swiss cross or the shape of a Toblerone bar.

Why Red Won the Race

The choice of red was not accidental. In the early days of Swiss railways, private companies used a variety of colors. Some preferred green, others dark blue or plain black. When the federal railway system consolidated in the early twentieth century, a unified appearance became necessary. Red emerged as the practical favourite. It offered high visibility in the snowy alpine landscape, reducing the risk of collisions. It also resisted fading better than many other pigments available at the time.

Passengers soon associated the bright colour with reliability and punctuality. A red train meant a train that would arrive within minutes of its scheduled time. That connection grew stronger over the decades. By the time the SBB officially standardized its colour scheme in the 1960s, red had already become the people's choice. The railway added a white stripe for contrast and a cleaner, more modern look. The combination proved so successful that it has remained largely unchanged for over half a century.

More Than Just Paint on a Train

Protecting a colour as a trademark might sound excessive, but it makes practical sense. The SBB operates one of the densest railway networks in the world, carrying over a million passengers daily. Its visual identity is worth a considerable amount of money and public trust. If any company could paint its vehicles in that exact red, confusion would follow. Travellers might board the wrong train. Tourists might mistake a private bus for a railway service. The SBB also licenses its colour for official merchandise, from model trains to travel bags. Controlling the shade ensures that all licensed products look consistent and authentic. Visitors to Switzerland often notice the red trains before anything else. Photographers chase them across bridges and along lake shores. Children wave at them from playgrounds.

The colour has become a quiet ambassador for Swiss precision and order. And like everything the Swiss value, that order is protected by law. Next time you see a bright red train glide past, you are looking at a colour that belongs, by legal right, to a nation and its railway.

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Image source: Daigdude via Pixabay