What is the standardized color of school buses in the United States and Canada?

The standardized color of school buses in the United States and Canada is school bus yellow.

The color was formulated for school buses in North America in 1939. An April 1939 conference organized by Columbia University professor Frank W. Cyr established uniform standards for American school buses, including their exterior color.

The yellow-orange shade was chosen because black lettering is especially easy to see against it in dim light. Its vivid appearance also helps make buses conspicuous in traffic and at a distance. Frank Cyr later became known as the “Father of the Yellow School Bus.”

The color was originally called National School Bus Chrome and was assigned Federal Standard 595 color number 13432. The modern official name in the United States and Canada is National School Bus Glossy Yellow. Not every school bus worldwide uses this shade, because the standard was developed for North American buses.