Konrad Lohöfener

When people think of Berlin, they often picture a splash of yellow. More precisely: RAL 1023 Traffic Yellow. Since 1994, this has been the color of the city’s buses, trams, and subway trains. It was typographer and designer Erik Spiekermann who took on the corporate design of the Berlin public transport company (BVG), proposing and standardizing not only the fonts and signage but also this distinctive color. With great success. On January 31, 1994, the first train of line 50, vehicle number 5143, left the Niederschönhausen depot in the new color. Gradually, all BVG vehicles were ordered in Traffic Yellow. Today, thousands of Berlin buses, trams, and subway trains travel in this unified design. They’ve become a symbol and a visual identity of the city—unmistakable and iconic. For BVG, it’s a key element of their public image. The message: wherever a yellow vehicle stops, you can hop on. And Berliners? They embraced the new color wholeheartedly. “Sunny Yellow,” they affectionately called it. The new look also became a success story of reunification, bringing together the transport systems of East and West. To mark the 30th anniversary of BVG’s iconic yellow, CMB trunk is now available in Traffic Yellow.