What Are the Different Electrical Wire Colors?

  1. Green, Green with Yellow Stripe, or Bare Copper: Ground Wires. …
  2. Black: Hot Wire. …
  3. Red: Hot Wire. …
  4. Blue and Yellow: Hot Wires. …
  5. White or Gray: Neutral Wires.

What color wires go together for a ceiling light?

Connect the white wires (neutral wires) from your fan and ceiling together. Connect the green wire to your household ground wire (copper/bare wire). Connect the black wires together. Connect the blue wires together or the blue wire to the black wire for lights.

How do you tell which wire is positive and negative on a light fixture?





When you’re hanging a chandelier or any other ceiling light, first find the 3 wires coming out of the hole in the ceiling where the light will go. Recognize that the black wire is the positive one, the white wire is the negative one, and the green wire is the ground.

Which wire is which on a light fixture?

When looking at wires, black or red is the current, white is neutral, and green or copper is ground. Don’t stick a bobby pin into an electrical outlet, even if your cousin dares you to.

What Colour wire goes to L and N?

black wire

The N is for the neutral side or the white wire, and the L is for the load side, the black wire.

How can you tell which wire is hot on a light fixture?





Look at the colors of the wires in your lamp. If there are three wires, the wire with black insulation is hot. If you have four, then the black and red wires are both hot.

Which wire is positive between blue and brown?

IEC DC power circuit wiring color codes

Function label Color
Positive (of a positive earthed) circuit M blue
Negative (of a positive earthed) circuit L- grey
3-wire earthed DC Power System
Positive L+ brown

What does 1N mean in electrical wiring?

1PHASE

1N = 1PHASE AND NEUTRAL. 2 = 2 PHASES AND NEUTRAL.

What are the wire color codes?



3-Phase Wire Color Codes

  • Phase 1 – Black wire.
  • Phase 2 – Red wire.
  • Phase 3 – Blue wire.
  • Neutral – White wire.
  • Ground – Green, Green with a Yellow Stripe, or Bare Wire.


What do the different color wires mean?

Blue and yellow wires are sometimes used as hot wires and as travelers, green wires (and bare copper wires) are ground wires, and white and gray wires are neutral. However, all electrical wires, regardless of their function, may carry an electrical current at some point and should be treated with equal caution.

What are red and yellow wires?



You’ll find red wires present in 220-volt circuits. While red is secondary to black, it’s often used in appliances like smoke detectors. Yellow Wires – always assume they are live if you have power. A yellow wire is used as a live wire pulled through a conduit.

What are blue electrical wires?

Blue & Yellow



These two colors are hot wires usually pulled in conduit for common plug-in electrical devices. Blue wires are used as travelers, usually on three- or four-way switches (controlling a light from multiple locations) or as switch legs for things such as fans or lights.

What are white wires used for?

The white wire is the “neutral” wire, it takes any unused electricity and current and sends it back to the breaker panel.

Which Colour is live wire?

Plug wiring colours

Wire Colour
Live Brown
Neutral Blue
Earth Yellow and Green



What are the black red and white wires?

Black, red, white with black or red tape will always indicate a hot wire. The term “hot” means these wires carry a live current from your electric panel to the destination.

What is the difference between yellow and white electrical wire?

The color of the sheathing indicates recommended usages. For example, white sheathing means that the inner wires are 14-gauge and yellow sheathing indicates that they are 12-gauge. But looking deeper, the color of the wires inside of the sheathing reveals that different colored wires serve different purposes.

Does neutral wire have power?

Neutral wire carries the circuit back to the original power source. More specifically, neutral wire brings the circuit to a ground or busbar usually connected at the electrical panel. This gives currents circulation through your electrical system, which allows electricity to be fully utilized.

What is orange wire used for?



Red or orange wires are often used to provide the secondary phase voltage in a 220-volt application. Always assume that a red or orange wire (in addition to the black wire, which provides the primary phase voltage) is live.