It turns out that the resistor color code dates back about 75 years, to 1941. Here, in the May 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics, it appears for the first time. According to the magazine, the color coding method was developed by the Radio Manufacturers Association (RMA) and was in common use. The magazine lists two methods for using the color code, the first of which, using four colored bands, is still in common use. Another method for irregularly shaped resistors, was to use the body color for the first digit, a band on one end for the second digit, a narrower band or dot for the multiplier, and a thinner band on the other end for the tolerance.

The familiar color code of Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Gray, and White is given in the chart. Over the years, this has given rise to a number of mneumonic devices for remembering the order in the form of a memorable sentence using the same first letters. Many of these are what Wikipedia puts in the “offensive” category, with many of them involving something untoward happening to some poor girl named Violet.

I first learned the resistor color code from the Boy Scout Radio Merit Badge pamphlet, meaning that I still have occasion to recite the less salty phrase, “Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Venture Goes West,” while counting off the digits on my fingers.

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