{{Short description|British military research project code names}} {{about|the British early Cold War military codenames|the pre-WW2 US military war plans|United States color-coded war plans#Rainbow plans|the cryptographic hash system|Rainbow table}} {{Refimprove|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}} {{Use British English|date=February 2015}} thumb|right|AA No. 3 Mk. 7 mobile anti-aircraft radar, nicknamed "Blue Cedar." The '''Rainbow Codes''' were a series of code names used to disguise the nature of various British military research projects. They were mainly used by the Ministry of Supply from the end of the Second World War until 1958, when the ministry was broken up and its functions distributed among the forces. The codes were replaced by an alphanumeric code system, consisting of two letters followed by three digits.
==History== During World War II, British intelligence was able to glean details of new German technologies simply by considering their code names. For instance, when they heard of a new radio navigation system known as ''Wotan'', Reginald Victor Jones asked around and found that Wotan was a one-eyed god. Based on this, he guessed that{{snd}}unlike its predecessors{{snd}}the ''Wotan'' system used a single radio beam. This proved correct, and although it was later discovered that the codename's descriptiveness was actually simple co-incidence, the Royal Air Force were nevertheless able to develop a technique for jamming ''Wotan'' so comprehensively that the system became entirely useless to the Germans.<ref>{{cite book |title=Most Secret War |last=Jones |first=R. V. |author-link=Reginald Victor Jones |year=1978 |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |location=London |isbn=0-241-89746-7 |pages=120, 177 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mostsecretwar0000jone/page/120 }}</ref>
Wishing to avoid making this sort of mistake, the Ministry of Supply (MoS) initiated a system that would be entirely random and deliberately unrelated to the program in any way,<ref>{{cite book |first= Vince |last= Houghton |title= Nuking the Moon |date= 2019 |publisher= Penguin |page=54}}</ref> while still being easy to remember. Each rainbow code name was constructed from a randomly selected colour, plus a noun taken from a list, for example: * "Blue" + "Steel" = Blue Steel, a nuclear-armed stand-off missile * "Green" + "Mace" = Green Mace, an anti-aircraft (AA) gun.
While most colour and noun combinations were meaningless, some combinations produced real names, although quite unrelated to the project they designated. For example, "Black Maria" is also a nickname for a police van and the "Red Duster" is a nickname for the Red Ensign, the flag flown by British merchant ships. Some code names were not assigned through the official system, but created to sound like it. The Blue Yeoman radar is an example, an unofficial name created by combining the names of two other projects, Blue Riband and Orange Yeoman.
The names were mostly dropped with the end of the Ministry in 1959. Its functions were split between the War Office, the Air Ministry, and the newly created Ministry of Aviation, which was responsible for civil aviation. After the reorganization, projects were mostly named with randomly selected codes comprising two letters and three digits, e.g. BL755, WE.177.<ref>{{cite book |title= Fallout |first= Jonathan |last=Guppy |page=170 |date=2008 |publisher= Lulu.com |isbn= 9781409239734 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIAZAwAAQBAJ}}</ref> Rainbow codes, or at least names that look like them without being official, have occasionally been used for some modern systems; current examples include the Orange Reaper electronic support measures system and the Blue Vixen radar<ref>{{cite web | publisher = Jane's Avionics | title = Blue Vixen radar (United Kingdom), Airborne Radar Systems | url=http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Avionics/Blue-Vixen-radar-United-Kingdom.html | access-date = 2009-08-08 }}</ref>—the latter most likely so named because it was a replacement for the Blue Fox radar.
==Projects== {{Expand list|date=August 2008}}
===Black=== * Black Arrow {{Anchor|Black Arrow}} – satellite launch vehicle derived from Blue Streak/Black Knight * Black Knight {{Anchor|Black Knight}} – launch vehicle used to test re-entry vehicles for Blue Streak * Black Maria {{Anchor|Black Maria}} – fighter IFF interrogator * Black Prince {{Anchor|Black Prince}} – proposed satellite launch vehicle based on Blue Streak/Black Knight – a.k.a. Blue Star * Black Rock {{Anchor|Black Rock}} – surface-to-surface guided missile
===Blue=== * Blue Anchor {{Anchor|Blue Anchor}} – X-band CW target illumination radar for Bristol Bloodhound – a.k.a. AMES Type 86 * Blue Badger {{Anchor|Blue Badger}} – truck-mounted nuclear land mine – later renamed Violet Mist * Blue Bishop {{Anchor|Blue Bishop}} – portable 2.5 MW nuclear-powered electrical generator – previously Green Janet * Blue Boar {{Anchor|Blue Boar}} – TV-guided bomb<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/blueboar.htm |title=Blueboar |access-date=2012-09-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411022540/http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/blueboar.htm |archive-date=11 April 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/reviews/books/review7.htm |title=Aviation Book Review |website=Aeroflight.co.uk |access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref> * Blue Boy {{Anchor|Blue Boy}} – VHF speech scrambling * Blue Bunny {{Anchor|Blue Bunny}} – ten-kiloton nuclear mine; see ''Blue Peacock'' * Blue Cat {{Anchor|Blue Cat}} – nuclear warhead, a.k.a. ''Tony'' – UK version of US W44, a.k.a. ''Tsetse'' * Blue Cedar {{Anchor|Blue Cedar}} – AA No. 3 Mk. 7 mobile anti-aircraft radar * Blue Circle – joke name for cement ballast used in place of a radar in the Tornado F.2{{cn|date=November 2025}} * Blue Danube {{Anchor|Blue Danube}} – the first British nuclear weapon in service * Blue Devil {{Anchor|Blue Devil}} – T4 optical bombsight – drift and ground speed from Green Satin * Blue Diamond {{Anchor|Blue Diamond}} – AA No. 7 anti-aircraft radar * Blue Diver {{Anchor|Blue Diver}} – ARI (Airborne Radio Installation) 18075 airborne low-band VHF jammer – against metric frequency radar such as Tall King – fitted to Victor and Vulcan * Blue Dolphin {{Anchor|Blue Dolphin}} – Blue Jay Mk V for Sea Vixen – see Hawker Siddeley Red Top * Blue Duck {{Anchor|Blue Duck}} – anti-submarine warfare missile, entered service as Ikara * Blue Envoy {{Anchor|Blue Envoy}} – surface-to-air missile to OR.1140, replaced Green Sparker as "Stage 2" SAM * Blue Fox {{Anchor|Blue Fox}} – kiloton-range nuclear weapon, later renamed Indigo Hammer – not to be confused with the later Blue Fox radar * Blue Fox {{Anchor|Blue Fox}} – airborne radar * Blue Jacket {{Anchor|Blue Jacket}} – ARI (Airborne Radio Installation) 5880 airborne Doppler navigation radar fitted to Hawker-Siddeley Buccaneer aircraft * Blue Jay {{Anchor|Blue Jay}} – air-to-air missile – entered service as de Havilland Firestreak * Blue Joker {{Anchor|Blue Joker}} – balloon-borne early warning radar – possibly also known as AMES Type 87 * Blue Kestrel – search radar * Blue Label – AMES Type 84 radar * Blue Lagoon – infra-red air-to-air detector * Blue Mercury – Centurion Crocodile flamethrower tank * Blue Moon {{Anchor|Blue Moon}} – nuclear-armed cruise missile project, replaced by Blue Streak * Blue Oak {{Anchor|Blue Oak}} – AWRE Atlas 2 super-computer used for simulation of nuclear explosions * Blue Orchid – Marconi doppler navigation equipment for helicopters * Blue Parrot {{Anchor|Blue Parrot}} – ARI 5930 I band automatic contour-following radar for Buccaneer – also known as AIRPASS II (acronym for Airborne Interception Radar & Pilot's Attack Sight System) * Blue Peacock {{Anchor|Blue Peacock}} – ten-kiloton nuclear land mine – also known as ''Blue Bunny'' and ''Brown Bunny''; it used the Blue Danube physics package * Blue Perseus – flamethrower kit for the Centurion Crocodile tank * Blue Ranger – delivery of Blue Steel to Australia * Blue Rapier {{Anchor|Blue Rapier}} – Red Rapier – missiles – see UB.109T * Blue Riband {{Anchor|Blue Riband}} – large jamming-resistant radar. Cancelled 1958 and replaced by a smaller version as Blue Yeoman * Blue Rosette {{Anchor|Blue Rosette}} – short-case nuclear weapon bomb casing for reconnaissance bomber to spec R156T, including the Avro 730, Handley Page HP.100, English Electric P10, Vickers SP4 and others * Blue Saga {{Anchor|Blue Saga}} – ARI 18105 airborne radar warning receiver (RWR) – fitted to Victor and Vulcan * Blue Sapphire {{Anchor|Blue Sapphire}} – astro-navigation system – see also Orange Tartan * Blue Shadow – navigation equipment for Canberra B.16, developed as Yellow Aster * Blue Shield – see Armstrong Whitworth Sea Slug * Blue Silk {{Anchor|Blue Silk}} – airborne Doppler navigation radar unit with lower speed range than Green Satin * Blue Sky {{Anchor|Blue Sky}} – see Fairey Fireflash * Blue Slug {{Anchor|Blue Slug}} – heavy ship-to-ship missile using Sea Slug launcher, nuclear or conventional * Blue Star {{Anchor|Blue Star}} – satellite launcher – see Black Prince * Blue Steel {{Anchor|Blue Steel}} – an air-launched rocket propelled nuclear stand-off missile * Blue Stone {{Anchor|Blue Stone}} – Unit 386D ENI (Electronic Neutron Initiator) – nuclear weapon component * Blue Streak {{Anchor|Blue Streak}} – a medium-range ballistic missile * Blue Study {{Anchor|Blue Study}} – automatic blind bombing system for V-bombers * Blue Sugar {{Anchor|Blue Sugar}} – air-droppable target marking radio beacon developed by TRE<ref name="Vulcan’s Hammer, p.18" >{{cite web|url=http://www.crecy.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=573 |title=Vulcan's Hammer |website=Crecy.co.uk |access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref> * Blue Vesta {{Anchor|Blue Vesta}} – later version of the Blue Jay air-to-air missile * Blue Vixen {{Anchor|Blue Vixen}} – pulse-Doppler radar for Sea Harrier FA2 * Blue Warrior (EW) VHF/UHF Jammer – countermeasure to use of radar AA shells * Blue Water {{Anchor|Blue Water}} – nuclear-armed tactical surface-to-surface missile intended for Royal Artillery in West Germany; also see Red Rose * Blue Yeoman {{Anchor|Blue Yeoman}} – early warning radar, also known as AMES Type 85, a component ''Linesman''; name created from the "Blue" of Blue Riband and the Yeoman of Orange Yeoman. Potentially non-official name.
===Brown=== * Brown Bunny {{Anchor|Brown Bunny}} – original, unofficial name for Blue Peacock
===Green=== * Green Apple – related to ''Window'' for measuring drift at sea * Green Archer {{Anchor|Green Archer}} – mortar-locating radar * Green Bacon – experimental anti-aircraft radar for Bofors units * Green Bamboo {{Anchor|Green Bamboo}} – "hybrid" nuclear weapon design similar to Soviet RDS-6s<ref>PRO. AVIA 65/1193 E10A. Tech Note GW375 p.2</ref> * Green Bottle – 1944 device for homing on U-boat radio signals (ARI.5574) * Green Cheese {{Anchor|Green Cheese}} – nuclear anti-ship missile<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/greencheese.htm |title=Greencheese |access-date=2005-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050911102227/http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/greencheese.htm |archive-date=11 September 2005 |df=dmy }}</ref> * Green Flash {{Anchor|Green Flash}} – Green Cheese's replacement * Green Flax {{Anchor|Green Flax}} – surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW) or surface-to-air missile (SAM); see Yellow Temple * Green Garland {{Anchor|Green Garland}} – infrared proximity fuze for Red Top * Green Garlic {{Anchor|Green Garlic}} – early warning radar, also known as the AMES Type 80 * Green Ginger {{Anchor|Green Ginger}} – surveillance radars – combined installation of AMES Type 88 and AMES Type 89 * Green Granite {{Anchor|Green Granite}} – thermonuclear warheads: Green Granite (small) and Green Granite (large), both tested at Operation Grapple * Green Grass {{Anchor|Green Grass}} – nuclear warhead for Violet Club and Yellow Sun Mark 1 bombs * Green Hammock {{Anchor|Green Hammock}} – low-altitude bomber, Doppler navigation * Green Janet {{Anchor|Green Janet}} – portable, nuclear power plant; see Blue Bishop * Green Light {{Anchor|Green Light}} – SAGW or SAM – see Short Sea Cat<ref>Cullen, Tony & Foss, Christopher F. (1991) ''Jane’s Land-Based Air Defence 1990–91''. London: Jane's Information Group. {{ISBN|0-7106-0915-9}}</ref> * Green Lizard {{Anchor|Green Lizard}} – tube-launched SAM with variable geometry wings * Green Mace {{Anchor|Green Mace}} – 5-inch rapid firing anti-aircraft gun<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/greenmace.htm |title=Green Mace Anti-Aircraft Gun |access-date=2008-04-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504021136/http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/greenmace.htm |archive-date=4 May 2008 |df=dmy }}</ref> * Green Minnow – radiometer imager * Green Palm {{Anchor|Green Palm}} – ARI 18074 airborne VHF voice channel jammer with four pre-set channels, replaced in the Vulcan B2 by the I band jammer * Green Salad – ARI 18044 wide-band VHF Homing equipment for the Avro Shackleton * Green Satin {{Anchor|Green Satin}} – ARI 5851 airborne Doppler navigation radar unit * Green Sparkler {{Anchor|Green Sparkler}} – advanced SAM for the "Stage 2" program, became Blue Envoy * Green Thistle – infra-red homing system based on the German wartime {{lang|de|Kielgerät}} * Green Walnut {{Anchor|Green Walnut}} – blind bombing equipment * Green Water {{Anchor|Green Water}} – pilotless interceptor/SAGW * Green Willow {{Anchor|Green Willow}} – EKCO AI Mk. 20 Fire Control radar, backup to ARI 5897 AI Mk. 23 Airborne Interception radar for the English Electric P.1 fighter * Green Wizard {{Anchor|Green Wizard}} – instrument for calibrating anti-aircraft guns by measuring their muzzle velocity
===Indigo=== * Indigo Bracket {{Anchor|Indigo Bracket}} – S-band radar jamming system * Indigo Corkscrew {{Anchor|Indigo Corkscrew}} – continuous wave radar, used with the Bristol Bloodhound and English Electric Thunderbird SAMs * Indigo Hammer, formerly Blue Fox {{Anchor|Indigo Hammer}} – nuclear weapon
===Jade=== * Jade River {{Anchor|Jade River}} – continuous wave radar, developed from Indigo Corkscrew
===Orange=== * Orange Blossom – probably a deliberate mis-identification of the Orange Crop pods fitted to 1312 Flight Hercules aircraft, possibly pod-mounted electronic support measures used on the Hercules{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} * Orange Cocktail – experimental homing radar weapon from the 1950s * Orange Crop {{Anchor|Orange Crop}} – Racal MIR 2 ESM system for Royal Navy Lynx and Royal Navy Sea King helicopters (HAS.5 onwards but not Mk 4 "Junglies", who had the Racal Prophet lightweight RWR fitted to some, or to the Royal Navy SAR) and some Royal Air Force Hercules aircraft * Orange Harvest {{Anchor|Orange Harvest}} – S and X band warning receiver fitted to Shackletons * Orange Herald {{Anchor|Orange Herald}} – large boosted fission nuclear warhead, tested at Operation Grapple in 1957 * Orange Nell {{Anchor|Orange Nell}} – short-range surface-to-air missile (SAGW) * Orange Pippin {{Anchor|Orange Pippin}} – Ferranti, anti-aircraft, fire-control radar * Orange Poodle {{Anchor|Orange Poodle}} – low altitude, OTHR (Over-the-Horizon) early-warning radar – abandoned * Orange Putter {{Anchor|Orange Putter}} – ARI 5800 airborne passive radar warning receiver tuned to Soviet AI radars and fitted to Canberra and Valiant * Orange Reaper {{Anchor|Orange Reaper}} – Racal "Kestrel" ESM system for Royal Navy Merlin helicopters * Orange Tartan {{Anchor|Orange Tartan}} – 'Auto-Astro' automated star navigation system (day) – see also Blue Sapphire (night)<ref name="Vulcan's Hammer, p17">{{cite book |publisher=Crecy |url=http://www.crecy.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=573 |first=Chris |last=Gibson |title=Vulcan's Hammer |access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref> * Orange Toffee – radar for Blue Envoy * Orange William {{Anchor|Orange William}} – heavy anti-tank missile, canceled, later replaced by ''Swingfire'' * Orange Yeoman {{Anchor|Orange Yeoman}} – early warning radar and guidance for Bristol Bloodhound SAGW – a.k.a. AMES Type 82
===Pink=== * Pink Hawk {{Anchor|Pink Hawk}} – early name for Fairey Fireflash missile. As this was a "watered down" version of the Red Hawk, and thus pink, it is an example of Rainbow Codes having some implied meaning, rather than their usual purely deliberately meaningless choice.
===Purple=== * Purple Granite {{Anchor|Purple Granite}} – nuclear weapon – see Green Granite * Purple Passion {{Anchor|Purple Passion}} – sub-kiloton demolition mine project related to Violet Mist * Purple Possum {{Anchor|Purple Possum}} – VX nerve agent
===Red=== * Red Achilles – flamethrower kit for the CT 25 armoured carrier * Red Angel {{Anchor|Red Angel}} – air-launched anti-ship weapon or "special bomb"<ref>''British Secret Projects: Jet Bombers Since 1949'' Tony Buttler Midland Publishing 2003</ref> * Red Bacchus – mobile mixing plant for Red Vulcan flamethrower fuel * Red Beard {{Anchor|Red Beard}} – nuclear weapon * Red Biddy – infantry platoon anti-tank missile, cancelled 1953 * Red Brick – experimental continuous-wave target illuminating radar * Red Cabbage – naval radar<ref name="Skomer"/> * Red Carpet – X-band radar jammer<ref name="Skomer"/> * Red Cat {{Anchor|Red Cat}} – air-launched nuclear stand-off missile cancelled 11/54.{{clarify inline|reason=Does this mean "November 1954"? If so, say that: MOS:DATE|date=October 2023}}<ref name="Skomer">{{cite web|url=http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/start.htm |title=United Kingdom Aerospace and Weapons Projects |access-date=2012-09-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024123107/http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/start.htm |archive-date=24 October 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref> * Red Cheeks {{Anchor|Red Cheeks}} – inertially guided bomb<ref name="Skomer"/> based on the work of Tubby Vielle * Red Cyclops – flamethrower kit for the FV201 tank * Red Dean {{Anchor|Red Dean}} – large air-to-air missile * Red Devil – experimental blind bombing system using Green Satin and Red Setter radars together * Red Drover {{Anchor|Red Drover}} – airborne radar – see Avro 730 * Red Duster {{Anchor|Red Duster}} – ''Bristol Bloodhound'' surface-to-air missile * Red Elsie – AP No. 8 anti-personnel mine, developed jointly with Canada. * Red Eye (Redeye) – An American general-purpose infra-red homing missile * Red Flag {{Anchor|Red Flag}} – free-fall nuclear bomb – 'Improved Kiloton Bomb' – WE.177 * Red Flannel {{Anchor|Red Flannel}} – experimental Q band H2S * Red Garter – Cossor ARI 5818 airborne tail warning radar for the Vulcan, did not enter service * Red Hawk {{Anchor|Red Hawk}} – large air-to-air missile "downrated" to give Pink Hawk which became Blue Sky * Red Heathen{{Anchor|Red Heathen}} – early SAM project, became Red Shoes and Red Duster<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1959/1959%20-%202460.html |title=1959 | 2460 | Flight Archive |website=Flightglobal.com |date=1959-09-25 |access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref> * Red Hebe {{Anchor|Red Hebe}} – air-to-air missile, a replacement for Red Dean * Red Hermes – FV3702 armoured fuel trailer for flamethrower tanks * Red Indian – analogue anti-aircraft fire control computer for Bofors L/70 gun. * Red King {{Anchor|Red King}} – two-barrel revolver cannon, developed alongside Red Queen. The name is likely not random, but instead a reference to its Oerlikon factory designation, RK, for Revolver Kanone. * Red Light {{Anchor|Red Light}} – X band jammer for V Bombers, entered service as ARI 18146 * Red Neck {{Anchor|Red Neck}} – airborne side-looking radar (SLAR), tested on the Victor, a 40 foot long aerial under each wing. Flexing in flight corrupted the resolution. Cancelled 1962.<ref>Roger R. Brooks (2007), ''The Handley Page Victor'', Pen & Sword, {{ISBN|978 1 84415 411 1}} p.197</ref> * Red Planet – infantry platoon anti-tank missile * Red Queen {{Anchor|Red Queen}} – rapid fire 42 mm revolver cannon anti-aircraft gun<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.quarryhs.co.uk/RED%20QUEEN.htm |title=The Red Queen and the Vigilante |website=Quarryhs.co.uk |date=13 May 2011 |first=Anthony G. |last=Williams |access-date=20 November 2018 |archive-date=13 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513125849/http://www.quarryhs.co.uk/RED%20QUEEN.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/redqueen.htm |title=Red Queen Anti-Aircraft Gun |access-date=2008-10-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008013132/http://www.skomer.u-net.com/projects/redqueen.htm |archive-date=8 October 2008 |df=dmy }}</ref> * Red Rapier{{Anchor|Red Rapier}}, Blue Rapier missiles – see UB.109T * Red Rose {{Anchor|Red Rose}} – short-range, battlefield nuclear missile for the British Army – English Electric – later known as ''Blue Water''; cancelled 1962 * Red Sea (AA) {{Anchor|Red Sea}} – the AA predictor designed for use with the ''Green Mace'' automatic AA gun<ref>Jobson P. (2008) ''Royal Artillery Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations'', The History Press, Stroud: 316 pp.</ref> * Red Setter {{Anchor|Red Setter}} – experimental side-looking radar for V bombers * Red Shoes {{Anchor|Red Shoes}} – see English Electric Thunderbird * Red Shrimp {{Anchor|Red Shrimp}} – ARI 18076 airborne high-band jammer fitted to Victor and Vulcan * Red Snow {{Anchor|Red Snow}} – nuclear weapon physics package – fitted to Yellow Sun Mk2 and Blue Steel * Red Steer {{Anchor|Red Steer}} – EKCO ARI 5919/ARI 5952 airborne tail warning radar – development of AI 20 Green Willow – fitted to Victor and Vulcan. The name likely refers to Jerry Steer at the RRE * Red Ticket {{Anchor|Red Ticket}} – associated with AI 17 radar * Red Top {{Anchor|Red Top}} – air-to-air missile developed from the Firestreak Mk 4 * Red Tulip {{Anchor|Red Tulip}} – phase coherent radar Moving Target Indicator (MTI) * Red Vulcan – flamethrower fuel mixture
===Violet=== * Violet Banner {{Anchor|Violet Banner}} – infrared seeker for Red Top * Violet Club {{Anchor|Violet Club}} – nuclear weapon * Violet Friend {{Anchor|Violet Friend}} – simple ABM system ordered under AST.1135 * Violet Mist {{Anchor|Violet Mist}} – truck-mounted nuclear land mine – formerly Blue Badger. Used the Red Beard physics package * Violet Picture {{Anchor|Violet Picture}} – UHF Homer, built by Plessey – Fitted to many RAF aircraft<ref>{{cite web |title=Airborne DF has existed for over 50 years |url=http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/428119-adf-can-tell-you-where-elt-coming-2.html#post5950039 |date=22 September 2010 |publisher=PPRuNe – Professional Pilots Rumour Network }}</ref> * Violet Vision {{Anchor|Violet Vision}} – nuclear warhead for Corporal missile – based on Red Beard
===Yellow=== * Yellow Anvil {{Anchor|Yellow Anvil}} – nuclear artillery shell warhead * Yellow Aster {{Anchor|Yellow Aster}} – H2S Mk 9A bombing radar, fitted to V bombers * Yellow Barley {{Anchor|Yellow Barley}} – radar warning receiver * Yellow Duckling {{Anchor|Yellow Duckling}} – infra-red submarine detector * Yellow Feather – missile seeker * Yellow Fever – fire control system for the Bofors L/70 anti-aircraft gun, comprising a Blue Diamond radar and a Red Indian analogue computer * Yellow Gate {{Anchor|Yellow Gate}} – Loral ESM for E-3D Sentry and Nimrod MR.2 * Yellow Jack {{Anchor|Yellow Jack}} – Orange Pippin's radar component * Yellow Lemon {{Anchor|Yellow Lemon}} – Doppler-navigation system for naval aircraft. Valve-based precursor to the transistorised Blue Jacket.<ref >{{Cite book |title=Black Box Canberras |first=Dave |last=Forster |year=2016 |publisher=Hinoki |isbn=978-1902109534 |pages=210,249 }}</ref> * Yellow River {{Anchor|Yellow River}} – mobile tactical control radar for Bristol Bloodhound – a.k.a. AMES Type 83 * Yellow Sand {{Anchor|Yellow Sand}} – anti-ship missile, possibly a precursor to Green Cheese * Yellow Sun {{Anchor|Yellow Sun}} – nuclear weapon casing * Yellow Temple {{Anchor|Yellow Temple}} – nuclear-armed SAGW development of Red Shoes * Yellow Tiger {{Anchor|Yellow Tiger}} – Target illuminating radar used with the Thunderbird missile * Yellow Veil – ALQ-167 pod for Royal Navy Lynx
==Non-Rainbow codes==
Several British military-related terms have a similar "colour" format to Rainbow Codes, but are not true examples since they do not refer to classified research projects and/or were adopted long after Rainbow Codes went out of use. Others are entirely unofficial (sometimes humorous) nicknames. These include:
* Black Banana – unofficial nickname for the Blackburn Buccaneer. The name "ARNA" (allegedly an acronym for "A Royal Navy Aircraft") was submitted to a Blackburn in-house naming competition. It was only when "Blackburn ARNA" was said out loud that the joke became clear. The initial service aircraft were painted Anti-flash white and were thus nicknamed "Peeled Nanas".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Modern Combat Aircraft 7 - Buccaneer |last=Allward |first=Maurice |publisher=Ian Allan |year=1982 |isbn=0-7110-1076-5 |page=52 }}</ref> * Black Beacon – The Orfordness Rotating Wireless Beacon, known simply as the Orfordness Beacon or sometimes the Black Beacon, was an early radio navigation system * Blue Circle – sardonic name for concrete ballast for Buccaneer while awaiting Blue Parrot radar. Also used for Sea Harrier ballast in place of Blue Fox radar, and Tornado F.2 ballast. From the Blue Circle cement company. * Blue Eric – improvised I band ECM jammer against the Fledermaus anti-aircraft gun control radar used by Argentine forces during the Falklands War. Installed in the Harrier GR.3's starboard 30mm gun pod.<ref>{{cite web |title=Falklands 25 |website=Fast Air Photography |url=http://www.fast-air.co.uk/falklands-25/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Hostile Skies |last=Morgan |first=David |publisher=Hachette |year=2012 |isbn=978-1780225005 |page=165 }}</ref> * Blue Yeoman – unofficial name for an experimental radar made from components of the Blue Riband and Orange Yeoman * Green Goddess {{Anchor|Green Goddess}} – colloquial name for Civil Defence fire pump * Green Meat – a 'spoof' SAM programme reported in the 1976 RAF Yearbook<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=htOKQwAACAAJ |title=Royal Air Force Yearbook 1976 |access-date=2016-07-25|last1=Green |first1=William |last2=Swanborough |first2=Gordon |year=1976 }}</ref> * Green Parrot – unconfirmed low yield nuclear weapon mentioned in a 1981 ''New Statesman'' article by Duncan Campbell<ref>{{cite news|title=The Wings of the Green Parrot|last=Campbell|first=Duncan|publisher=New Statesman|page=9|date=17 April 1981}}</ref> who later claimed that it was "probably" a copy of the US B57 nuclear bomb.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier: American Military Power in Britain|page=104|author=Duncan Campbell|publisher=Paladin Grafton Books|year=1986}}</ref> The WE.177 has incorrectly been referred to as the Green Parrot by some authors. However Green Parrot was a NATO codename for the Soviet PFM-1 anti-infantry mine. Green Parrot was also the term for an admiral's barge, traditionally with a green-painted hull. * Green Porridge {{Anchor|Green Porridge}} – RAF aircrew nickname for green-tinted H2S bombing radar display PPI image in Valiant, Victor & Vulcan * Red Arrows {{Anchor|Red Arrows}} – RAF display team * Red Devils {{Anchor|Red Devils}} – Parachute Regiment display team * Red Slab – joke name for a large ballast weight replacing the nose radar in Avro Vulcan XH558 in its return to flight as a civil display aircraft. * Violet Fire {{Anchor|Violet Fire}} – Ultraviolet light fire detection system for Concorde engine bays.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Concorde Power Plant Fire Protection System |journal=Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology |last=Davis |first=R.A. |year=1993 |volume=43 |issue=5 |pages=26–30 |doi=10.1108/eb034768 }}</ref>
==In popular culture== An allusion to the Rainbow codes was made in the title of the 1961 Alistair MacLean Cold War novel ''The Dark Crusader'', even more so in the American edition's title ''The Black Shrike''. Both names were based on Blue Streak (which was mentioned in the novel); the title was of a fictional solid-fueled ICBM which was the object of a covert theft operation at an isolated Fijian test site.<ref>{{cite book|first=Jack|last=Webster|title=Alistair MacLean: A Life|year=1991|publisher=Chapmans|pages=113–115}}</ref>
==See also== *British military aircraft designation systems *Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom *Rainbow Herbicides
==References== ;Notes {{Reflist|30em}} ;Bibliography *Public Record Office, London. TNA AIR 2/17322 E51B (a) *[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vulcans-Hammer-V-Force-Aircraft-Projects/dp/1902109171 '' Vulcan's Hammer: V-Force Aircraft and Weapons Projects Since 1945''] – Chris Gibson – 2011 – {{ISBN|978-1-902109-17-6}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120314120957/http://www.mcis.soton.ac.uk/Site_Files/pdf/nuclear_history/glossary.pdf British nuclear weapon history]
{{UKColdWarProjects}}
Category:Rainbow code Category:Cold War military equipment of the United Kingdom Category:United Kingdom defence procurement Category:Lists of names