What color was standardized for North American school buses in 1939?

School bus yellow was standardized for North American school buses in 1939.

The color was specifically formulated for school transportation rather than chosen as an ordinary commercial paint shade. Its yellow-orange appearance was intended to make buses conspicuous in traffic and recognizable to children, drivers, and other road users during the school commute.

The standard emerged from a 1939 conference that brought together transportation officials, educators, and manufacturers to establish more consistent school-bus design practices in the United States. Although regulations and vehicle designs have changed since then, the standardized color remained one of the conference’s most visible legacies.

The term can cause confusion because the shade is often described casually as yellow, orange-yellow, or golden yellow. The canonical name is “school bus yellow.” North American school buses also commonly use warning lights, stop arms, and distinctive body construction, but those features vary by jurisdiction. The color itself became an enduring symbol of school transportation and has influenced bus designs beyond the United States and Canada.