Portland Orange is the color of light emitted by the phase of

pedestrian crossing A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American and Canadian English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or Avenue (landscape), avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna Convention on Road Sign ...

signals in the United States and Canada. The color was chosen to avoid confusion with regular

traffic light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

s in conditions of poor visibility. Its

chromaticity Chromaticity is an objective specification of the quality of a color regardless of its luminance. Chromaticity consists of two independent parameters, often specified as '' hue'' (''h'') and ''colorfulness'' (''s''), where the latter is alte ...

is specified by the

Institute of Transportation Engineers The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) is an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals who are responsible for meeting mobility and safety needs. ITE facilitates the application of technology and ...

in that body's technical standards, along with lunar white for the lights. Its application is stipulated in the U.S. federal ''

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices The ''Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways'' (usually referred to as the ''Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices'', abbreviated MUTCD) is a document issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the Unit ...

''. Various jurisdictional standards also require Portland Orange for signs. The color can be created with some

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

s, and the ITE specifies the precision of its

wavelength In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...

to 3

nanometer 330px, Different lengths as in respect to the Molecule">molecular scale. The nanometre (international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: nm), or nanometer (American spelling Despite the va ...

s. In practice, the most brilliant color of gaseous tubing is similar to Portland Orange.

International application

Portland Orange is generally not used outside the United States and Canada. In most of the world,

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

, or another specified color, is used for the symbol instead of Portland Orange.

References

Pedestrian crossing components Standards of the United States Standards of Canada {{Color-stub