The British Council has no official colour palette other than on corporate stationery. Colour plays a significant role in the British Council identity and our approach is to use it as a clear expression of the personality of the brand: confident, independent, friendly, engaging, respectful, trustworthy, focused and inspiring.

There are three ways to use colour in the logo.

Logo colour option one: corporate – the colours used on all British Council corporate stationery are Pantone™ 2995 for the symbol and Pantone™ 295 for the name. When used on stationery the logo may not be reproduced using four-colour process. You may use the corporate colour on other items; its use is mandatory only on corporate stationery.

Logo colour option two: two-colour logos – the colour of the name is mandatory
in all uses of the two-colour logo and should always be Pantone™ 295 or its CMYK equivalent (C 100, M 57, Y 0, K 40). However, you are free to select a complementary colour for the symbol. Colours that are very light or tonally close to Pantone™ 295 should be avoided.

Logo colour option three: single-colour logos – the logo may be produced only in one colour, in a colour of your choice, or in black or white. Colours that are tonally close to the background colour should be avoided.

ACCEPTABLE

1 Pantone™ 295 and 2995 must be used on stationery.

2 A two-colour logo printed in CMYK on white. The Pantone™ 295 of the name is printed in its CMYK equivalent (C 100, M 57, Y 0, K 40).

3 A single-colour version of the logo printed in CMYK on white.

4 White version of the logo on a CMYK background.

5 Use only the single-colour logo on an image if there is sufficient contrast between the logo and the image.

6 Use only a two-colour logo on an image if there is sufficient contrast between the logo and the image.

NOT ACCEPTABLE

1 The single-colour logo is too close in contrast to the background colour.

2 The single-colour logo is too light to be legible. The logo shown is the reversed version – it should be the black version.

3 The colour of the logo must not be graduated.

4 The name must always be in Pantone™ 295 or its CMYK equivalent
(C 100, M 57, Y 0, K 40). Here it is printed in black.

5 The dots must not be too close in colour to the name if using the
two-colour logo.

6 The logo must never be used on textured or busy backgrounds.