The roots of British Racing Green trace all the way back to the early days of international motor racing in the early twentieth century. At that time, the Gordon Bennett Cup, organized by enterprising American James Gordon Bennett Jr, was the proving ground for automotive technology and national pride. Each country competing was assigned a unique national racing color. France took blue, Germany white, Italy red, and Great Britain—rather fittingly—landed on green.
In 1902, British driver Selwyn Francis Edge thundered to victory in his Napier, giving Britain the honor of hosting the next year’s race. But there was a problem: British law capped road speeds at an excruciatingly slow 12 mph, far too sluggish for a proper race. The solution was to move the 1903 event across the Irish Sea to County Kildare, Ireland, where local authorities agreed to lift the speed restrictions for the highly anticipated event.
In a gesture of gratitude to their Irish hosts and inspired by the lush landscapes surrounding them, the British team painted their Napier cars in a fresh, vivid green. This specific shade varied—sometimes a bright shamrock, sometimes a deeper olive or moss—but it would soon become known as British Racing Green.
The 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup was no walk in the park. Treacherous, unpaved roads and wild enthusiasm from locals tested drivers and machinery alike. Though none of the green Napiers won that year, the moment left an indelible mark on the sport, unofficially granting green as the British national racing color.
Over the years, British Racing Green became more than a tradition. Bentley’s legendary Le Mans victories with their dark green racers throughout the 1920s and 1930s cemented its fame. The “Bentley Boys”—a roster of daring, larger-than-life characters—ensured the color stood for grit, courage, and the pursuit of speed. Other makers, like Sunbeam, ERA, Aston Martin, Lotus, and Cooper, all gloried in shades of British Racing Green, each imbuing the color with their own character and engineering spirit.
While the exact hue of British Racing Green has always varied, from bright emeralds to deep forest tones, its symbolism only strengthened. In the golden age of global racing, when each nation’s cars wore their heritage in bright paint, green was Britain’s proud banner.
Today, British Racing Green is as relevant as ever, appearing on everything from F1 machines to limited-run road cars and classic Minis. It represents a link to the roots of international racing, the wild days on Irish roads, and a legacy of fearless competition.
