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Colours

sgplot provides Scottish Government branded colour palettes as set out by the Scottish Government Design System.

These palettes have been developed to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 for graphical objects. The colours in the main palette for categorical data all have at least a 3:1 colour contrast ratio with white (#ffffff) and off-white (#f8f8f8) backgrounds, as well as with adjacent colours in the palette.

In addition to the default Scottish Government palettes, sgplot also supports the use of branded palettes for Social Security Scotland and the Government Analysis Function.

Things to consider when using colour

Using sgplot colour palettes does not guarantee that your charts will be accessible. Both the Scottish Government and the Analysis Function have published guidance on other steps you should take to ensure the accessible use of colour. sgplot should be used in conjunction with the advice given in these guidance documents.

The following are a few key things to consider when using colour in data visualisations:

Colour palettes in sgplot

Scottish Government

The Scottish Government colour palettes are used by default in sgplot.

Main palette

The main palette should be used with categorical data.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
dark-blue #002d54
teal #2b9c93
purple #6a2063
orange #e5682a

You should try to use an absolute maximum of four colours in a chart. If you feel you need more than four, think about how you could redesign your chart to avoid this. If you absolutely must use more than four colours, the main-extended palette can be used.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
dark-blue #002d54
teal #2b9c93
purple #6a2063
orange #e5682a
dark-green #0b4c0b
green #5d9f3c
brown #592c20
pink #ca72a2

Sequential palette

The sequential colour palette should be used for data where the order has some meaning.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
dark-blue #002d54
mid-blue #0065bd
light-blue #55a8f2

As this palette is restricted to tints of one colour, there are issues with colour contrast. Neither dark-blue or light-blue have sufficient colour contrast with mid-blue. Follow the advice for using the sequential palette in the Analysis Function colour guidance when using this palette.

Focus palette

The focus palette should be used to highlight specific elements of a plot.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
dark-blue #002d54
grey #949494

The grey in this palette does not meet the required colour contrast with an off-white background (#f8f8f8), therefore charts using this palette should only use a white background (#ffffff).

Social Security Scotland

To use a Social Security Scotland palette, set palette_type = "sss" when using any of the scale_ colour functions.

If you have any questions about these palettes, please contact the Social Security Scotland statistics mailbox.

Main palette

The main palette should be used with categorical data.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
navy #201751
pink #ff2891
purple #461643
orange #e5682a

You should try to use an absolute maximum of four colours in a chart. If you feel you need more than four, think about how you could redesign your chart to avoid this. If you absolutely must use more than four colours, the main-extended palette can be used.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
navy #201751
pink #ff2891
purple #461643
orange #e5682a
dark-green #0b4c0b
green #5d9f3c
brown #592c20
light-pink #ca72a2

Sequential palette

The sequential colour palette should be used for data where the order has some meaning. This palette is the same as the Scottish Government sequential palette.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
dark-blue #002d54
mid-blue #0065bd
light-blue #55a8f2

As this palette is restricted to tints of one colour, there are issues with colour contrast. Neither dark-blue or light-blue have sufficient colour contrast with mid-blue. Follow the advice for using the sequential palette in the Analysis Function colour guidance when using this palette.

Focus palette

The focus palette should be used to highlight specific elements of a plot.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
navy #201751
grey #8F8F8F

Government Analysis Function

The Government Analysis Function guidance also contains suggested colour palettes. These are also provided in sgplot, however the Scottish Government palettes are used by default. To use an Analysis Function palette, set palette_type = "af" when using any of the scale_ colour functions.

Main palette

The main palette should be used with categorical data.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
dark-blue #12436D
turquoise #28A197
dark-pink #801650
orange #F46A25

The main2 palette should be used if only two colours are required as the dark blue and orange colours have the best colour contrast with each other. If only two colours are required and another palette from the main family is used, main2 will be used instead.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
dark-blue #12436D
orange #F46A25

The main6 palette is available if an extended palette is required.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
dark-blue #12436D
turquoise #28A197
dark-pink #801650
orange #F46A25
dark-grey #3D3D3D
light-purple #A285D1

Sequential palette

The sequential colour palette should be used for data where the order has some meaning.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
dark-blue #12436D
mid-blue #2073BC
light-blue #6BACE6

As this palette is restricted to tints of one colour, there are issues with colour contrast. Follow the advice for using the sequential palette in the Analysis Function colour guidance when using this palette.

Focus palette

The focus palette should be used to highlight specific elements of a plot.

Note: the cells in the ‘Example of colour’ column may appear blank to screen reader software. They contain a colour fill, but no data.

Colour name Hex code Example of colour
dark-blue #12436D
grey #BFBFBF

The light grey colour in this palette does not have sufficient colour contrast against a white background and therefore this palette should only be used when it is essential to communicate your message. Follow the advice for using the focus palette in the Analysis Function colour guidance when using this palette.

The Scottish Government focus palette does not have this issue, so you may wish to use this instead.

Using your own colour palette

There may be instances where you’d like to use a different colour palette. If so, this should be carefully considered to ensure it meets accessibility requirements. The Analysis Function guidance outlines appropriate steps for choosing your own accessible colour palette and should be used.

An example of how to use an alternative colour palette is provided in the cookbook. However, if you use a different palette regularly and feel it would be useful for this to be added to sgplot, please make a suggestion as per the contributing guidance.

Viewing palettes in R

Names and hex codes for available colours and palettes can be viewed by running the following code:

# View names and hex codes for all colours
sgplot::sg_colour_values

# View names and hex codes for all colour palettes
sgplot::sg_colour_palettes

# View names and hex codes for `main` colour palette
sgplot::sg_colour_palettes$main

# For Social Security Scotland palettes, use the sss_ prefix
sgplot::sss_colour_palettes

# For Analysis Function palettes, use the af_ prefix
sgplot::af_colour_palettes

Examples of how to apply these palettes to ggplot2 charts are available in both the cookbook and the reference files for scale_ colour functions.

These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.