For motorsports fans, there is perhaps no color more famous than British Racing Green. It even appeared on a limited-edition Toyota 86 that came to the U.S. in 2019, though Toyota initially told Jalopnik that the car was exclusive to Japan. The rich hue (also known as BRG) has become a staple color for British racing and road cars alike, and it dates back to the early 1900s when road racing was emerging in Europe. Each participating country had its own national colors, but why did the British pick a deep green?
A commonly accepted answer is that Britain, in honor of Ireland hosting the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup on Britain's behalf, chose a shade of shamrock green for its racing livery, which carried on into future races and later become known as British Racing Green. However, during the previous year's Cup, the British team's livery used a lighter shade, an olive tone known as Napier green, which may have simply been the preference of the cars' manufacturer, David Napier. The 1903 Irish-hosted race marked the first use of the landmark green we recognize today, but British race cars were green even before that time.
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The Gordon Bennett Cup took place between 1900 and 1905, with six races held in that time across France, Germany, and Ireland. Socialite and businessman James Gordon Bennett, son of a wealthy Scottish newspaper owner, sponsored the Cup after unsuccessfully attempting to negotiate the terms of a proposed race between an American driver and a European driver.
Each country chose an identifiable livery color for ease of viewing: France was blue, Germany was white, Belgium was yellow, and Italy was red. In the Cup's second year, the U.K. joined with a 50-horsepower car made by David Napier, whose livery was olive. Its first performance was abysmal — the overweight car prompted a last-ditch effort to change the tire strategy, resulting in a disqualification.
In 1902, however, the Napier-green team was victorious. This win earned Britain the hosting rights to the Cup for the following year. However, due to the race's reputation for being a potential health hazard and threat to England's developing roads, and due to a 12 mph speed limit introduced by British Parliament, the race couldn't take place in the U.K. Ireland was selected to hold the race instead, and Britain darkened their livery to a shamrock green, reportedly in honor of their host. (Strangely enough, while BRG is beloved worldwide, the color green is considered bad luck in U.S. racing.)
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Just as BRG's exact origin is debatable (arguments can be made for either the mysterious 1901-1902 Napier green or the shamrock variant that supposedly honors Ireland), so is BRG's exact shade in the modern day. The British used various shades of dark green throughout racing circuits in the decades following the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup, but no official shade was ever determined, thus allowing the era's automakers to take liberties with the color.
This resulted in a number of shades that could fall under the BRG umbrella today. A 1960 issue of Road and Track confirmed that British Racing Green isn't one official color, but the outlet did claim that "Napier green is preferred," further complicating the idea that shamrock green deserves the ultimate BRG credit. Regardless of the specific shade or precise year of inception, we can confirm that BRG as a concept owes its fame to the Gordon Bennett Cup and the establishment of national team colors.
