Wikipedia:WikiProject Color/Principles

There are multitudes of articles written about colors that are either made up, unverifiable, non-notable, or even proprietary. Swatches are displayed and values in various color systems given as fact, when in fact no such value may be defined or published for a given color. In order to combat these problems and focus on providing the most encyclopedic value, the following principles have been established. Discussion on these principles can be found on the talk page.

1. Notability and verifiability. Wikipedia may include articles on color names only where there is sufficient notable and verifiable information available to write a non-stub article on aspects of the use of the color name. Verifiability of the use of a color name must go beyond finding a web site that lists or uses the name. Note that this item does not say anything about whether the article has a swatch; there may be colors with no formal definition, but with important cultural, artistic, political or other connections that are worthy of an article. The author of such an article should record the connections but should not attempt to formalise the definition, because that could be construed as original research. Note also that just because an article is a stub doesn't necessarily mean the color is not notable. The AFD process would probably cover this issue. Care should be taken to ensure that notable and verifiable information is kept, whether as its own article or merged into another.

2. Use of color disclaimer. Wikipedia may include illustrations such as photographs of objects to illustrate the meaning of a color name; in all cases these shall be accompanied by a color disclaimer which emphasises that exact color reproduction cannot be guaranteed and that neither the monitor nor a printout should be used as a reference. A similar disclaimer shall be used in any illustration which shows a color or ranges of colors in such a way that they might be taken as being authoritative. This disclaimer may be a link to a disclaimer page or a disclaimer within the caption. It is very important, if Wikipedia is to have any claim to definitive information, that it is explained that the colors you see on your monitor or printout are not controlled and may not match the original intention.

3. Color values only if in a standard. In some cases a color name will be included in an authoritative standard which gives a definition or conversion in terms of specific color models or color spaces. It is proper to include this information provided the color name standard is not proprietary (see item 6). Conversions to other color spaces that do not form part of the standard or source shall not appear. This is an attempt to apply Wikipedia's rules for verifiability to articles about colors. Note also that the same color may have radically different colors in different standards (see, for example, Green); this can simply be presented, it isn't Wikipedia's job to pick one over another.

4. Strict limits on swatches. In limited situations, Wikipedia may include swatches of colors which attempt to directly show colors in the browser via HTML. Such swatches may only appear where

(a) the color is defined in an authoritative standard of color names

(b) the color name standard identifies a color in either sRGB color or as a simple RGB color mixture without calibration

(c) the swatch indicates whether it is sRGB or uncalibrated RGB

(d) the swatch does not include any other color spaces unless they form part of the same standard

(e) the swatch identifies and links the color standard used.

In some cases, photographs or illustrations are provided in lieu of color blocks as a type of swatch. These "swatches" are in some cases more useful than a box of color, especially when describing colors which may have a range of values, such as blue or green. When used, these illustrative examples should be accompanied by a notice explaining that they are not intended to be precise representations but rather demonstrations of the color.

5. Pre-vetting of acceptable color sources. Wikiproject color shall maintain a list of authoritative and acceptable sources for color names; adding of sources needs to be subject to a consensus procedure. This principle may not be applicable to certain colors which, while not part of a published standard, have cultural, political, artistic, or other significance (such as International Klein Blue).

6. Excluding proprietary color spaces. To protect Wikipedia from legal action, color names and values from proprietary color spaces shall not be systematically listed, and color values shall not be included at all, unless the color space owner specifically releases this information under a license suitable for use in Wikipedia. It would without a doubt be useful for Wikipedia to include colors from industry standards such as Pantone, but intellectual property of this nature may be vigorously defended. This is not a battle Wikipedia would want to fight.